The Greatest Fall
by twenty3
Summary: When Nick's brother comes to town for a visit, Nick starts acting weird and is clearly keeping something from his past from Warrick. NickWarrick friendship. M for violence and language.
1. I Told You So

Nick dropped his pen and sighed in frustration. "I can't concentrate on this to save my life." 

"Well it's a good thing no one's holding a gun to your head." Warrick said with a smile. "Although, I'm sure Ecklie would to get you to finish that paperwork you've put off for the last month."

Nick sighed again. "I didn't put it off. Grissom didn't have time to do it because one of his cockroaches had a heart attack during a race or something ridiculous like that. Not my fault."

Warrick drank the rest of his coffee and shook his head at his friend. "Suck it up Nicky. Grown ups have responsibilities."

Nick picked his pen back up and forced back a smile. "I wish I was five years old again and didn't know what the hell COD stood for."

"Don't we all." Warrick said as he stood up and threw his cup in the trash can. He glanced out the breakroom window and what he saw made him thing his tired mind was playing tricks on him. "Nick, do you have a twin brother?"

Nick looked up and frowned in confusion. "I have a brother...but he's not my twin. Why?"

"Because there's this guy at the front desk who looks an awful lot like you, except he's wearing a suit and is a little taller than you."

Nick dropped his pen again and quickly went over and stood next to Warrick. "Shit...that's Jeremy...that's my brother."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

Nick tore his eyes away from the man signing in at the front desk and looked at Warrick. "Huh? It isn't...I'm just surprised to see him." Nick said before walking out of the break room. Warrick just shook his head at Nick before heading to the locker room to change before leaving.

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked as he walked up next to his older brother.

Jeremy turned and faced Nick with a smile. "Nice to see you too Nick." He said sarcastically. "I just came to visit my little brother for a few days. Is that okay?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "Of course it is...is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah everything's fine...but I gotta talk to you about something."

Nick nodded. "I figured. Follow me." He lead Jeremy to the empty breakroom and waited until the door was closed before asking Jeremy, "What's going on?"

Jeremy shook his head and held up his hands. "Calm down. Everything's fine. I just need you to hold on to something for me for a little while."

"Okay...what is it?"

"That's not important." Jeremy reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a tan envelope and handed it to Nick. Whatever was in it caused the package to bulge a little and was fairly heavy. "What is imporant is what's inside there. Don't let anyone know you have it and keep it safe for me, okay?"

"Why can't you tell me what thi-"

Jeremy cut Nick off. "Hey, I would never put you in danger, you know that. It's just some paper and files for work."

"Which work?" Nick asked skeptically.

Jeremy shook his head. "You trust me, don't you?"

Nick sighed. "Yeah, yeah I do. Don't worry...I got this."

It wasn't until then that the Stokes' brothers realized they weren't alone. Warrick had come back in to get his jacket, and had heard pretty much the entire conversation. "Excuse me guys...hope I didn't inturrupt." He said with a sideways glance at Nick.

"No, not at all." Jeremy said with a smile.

After staring back at Warrick, Nick introduced the two men to each other. "Warrick, this is my older brother Jeremy. Jere, this is Warrick."

"Nice to meet you." They both said with smiles as they shook hands.

"Well I gotta run Nicky, I'll see ya later kid." Jeremy said before he left the breakroom, then the lab itself.

Nick ran his hand through is dark hair and collapsed into his chair. He dropped the package on the table and pretended to go back to his paperwork.

Warrick took the seat across from Nick and leaned back casually. "What was that about?" He asked.

Nick shook his head and didn't look up from the paperwork. "Nothing, he just needs me to hang on to something for him."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Then why won't you look at me? Cuz you know I'll be able to tell you're lying?"

Nick smiled slightly and looked up at Warrick. "It's complicated...about stuff that happend a very long time ago. No big deal though."

Warrick knew Nick was lying about it not being a big deal, but decided not to call him on it again. He knew his best friend would come to him if he ever needed anything.

"Alright. If you ever wanna tell me what's really going on, I'm all ears." Warrick said before he stood up and walked over to the door. Before he left, he turned back to Nick, who was having a staring contest with the table. "We still on for the Suns game tonight?"

Nick turned around and smiled at Warrick. "For sure. I wanna be there when my Mavs beat them. I can't wait to see your face man."

Warrick shook his head. "Whatever Texas." He said before walking out of the breakroom and down the hall.

Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly after Warrick had left. He reached to pick up the package Jeremy had given him, but pulled his hand back. He trusted his brother. He knew he wouldn't put his life in danger with something of extreme importance. Again.

* * *

Warrick still couldn't help but wonder what Nick and Jeremy had been talking about. Whatever it was, it seemed to scare Nick. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know much about Nick's past other than he had obviously grown up in Texas and had five sisters and a brother. Whatever was going on had to do with something that happened some years ago, and he had a feeling it was worse than Nick was gonna let him know. 

But thoughts of that soon disappeared as the two best friends started watching the basketball game. They argued back and forth over who was gonna win and gloated when their team scored or made a great play. Warrick didn't necessarily love the Suns like Nick loves the Mavericks, but it was just fun to compete and argue like they always did. And when the Suns pulled it out after two over times, Warrick couldn't help but rub it in a little.

"And that's why they're going all the way my friend." He said with a smile.

Nick shook his head and sighed. "Well they do have the best point guard ever. You just can't stop Nash."

"Damn straight." Warrick nodded in agreement.

Nick took another sip of his beer and leaned back against the couch. "You still don't believe UNLV's gonna make it to the Final Four, do you?" He asked with a grin.

"I have faith." Warrick answered. "They'll go farther than A&M."

"That's how I know you're full of it."

Warrick didn't have time for a rebuttle because Nick's cell phone started ringing, and before he could say anything back Nick had answered it.

"Hello?" Nick answered. His smile soon faded and was replaced with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" He listened to whoever was on the other end to say something for a few minutes before he spoke again. "You said you were done..." Nick shook his head at whatever was being said. "Okay...yeah, I can take care of it. Bye." He snapped his cell phone shut and stood up.

"Everything okay?" Warrick asked.

"Yeah, that was just Jeremy. I gotta go over to his hotel to help him with something for work."

"Alright, I'll see ya tonight right?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I'm working. See ya." And with that Nick was gone.

Warrick just shook his head and tried not to think about it too much. But Nick was acting really weird about his brother being in town, and something didn't feel right. Warrick sighed and tried to focus on the highlights of the game he had just watched. He realized that ever since Nick had been kidnapped he had worried about him a lot more than he should have because Nick was doing a lot better than he had been. He was just over reacting. He hoped.

* * *

Next chapter should be up soon. Hope you like it so far, I know it's kind of a slow start and a little confusing, but it gets better. 


	2. Help Me Help You

Warrick could tell as soon as he saw Nick that something was wrong. But he knew Nick wasn't going to tell him, so he didn't even ask. He was glad when they got paired up for a hit and run on the strip. Warrick was hoping for a chance to talk and see if Nick really was okay. The late Saturday night traffic gave a good opportunity for some time for them to talk. Nick was very pale and looked like he was about to pass out. That was a good place to start. 

"You feelin alright man?" Warrick asked. "You don't look so hot."

Nick sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little over tired."

Warrick nodded. "I hear that." To avoid silence and get this conversation going somewhere, Warrick asked, "So is everything okay with your brother?"

Nick visibly tensed for a minute before he relaxed and tried to shake off the question. "Yeah, everything's fine. He just needed my help with something." Warrick didn't respond, he just stared out the windshield at the car in front of them. Nick looked at his friend and frowned. "You don't believe me, do you?"

Warrick looked back at Nick. "No, I don't. Over the years, I've gotten to know you really well. And I can tell when something's wrong and when you're lying so easily it's not even funny. It just scares me that whatever it is, you can't tell me."

Nick shook his head slowly and looked out his window. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. And if you did believe me, we wouldn't be friends anymore. So it's not something I really wanna risk."

"Nick, we're always gonna be best friends. Nothing can change that man."

"Trust me, you don't wanna know."

Warrick sighed. He didn't want to get in a fight with Nick, so he just ended the conversation on a good note. "Fine. Just promise me that if you're in trouble and need anything, you're gonna let me know, okay?" When Nick didn't answer, Warrick punched him lightly on the shoulder. "I'm serious Nick."

Nick turned his head and looked Warrick in the eyes. "I don't want to get you involved in this."

"Well if you're involved, I'm gonna be involved too. So just promise me man."

"Okay. I promise." And then it was done, Warrick just left the topic alone for now.

When they finally arrived at the scene, Warrick could have sworn Nick got even paler when he saw the scene. But he quickly forgot about that when Brass came up to them.

"It's about time fellas." He said dramatically.

"Traffic was terrible, and this side back street isn't exactly the easiest place in the world to find." Warrick responded.

Brass nodded. "Yeah, good point." He turned and motioned to the dark blue Nissan that was a few feet in front of them. "Druggie gets in the car to get away from these guys he owes a lot of money, and he ends up hitting a lost tourist."

"How do you know he was a druggie if this is a hit and run?" Nick asked.

Brass cracked a small smile. "Well, he tried to run. He got out of the car and took off, but didn't make it too far. He passed out as soon as he made it around the corner."

"Okay..." Warrick said. "So all we have to do is match fingerprints and whatnot and he's gone. Easy case."

Brass shook his head. "Not really. This car is in the wrong part of town. And it was hotwired."

"Really?" Warrick asked in disbelief.

Brass nodded. "Yeah, and I highly doubt that our strung out pal over there could tie his shoes, let alone hotwire a car."

"I thought you couldn't hotwire any car made after 1985?" Warrick asked Brass, but was answered by Nick.

"No, you can. It's just a lot harder and not many people know how. If you mess up, you get shocked or the alarm will go off." When he got the questioning looks from both Brass and Warrick, he just shrugged and smiled slightly. "Discovery channel."

Brass shook his head. "Get him a girlfriend, would ya?" He said to Warrick, who couldn't help but laugh. "Anyway, the car's registered owner has been out of town for the last two weeks, so he's out."

"Why would he hotwire his own car anyway?" Nick said.

"Good point." Brass said. "So you boys have an attempted hit and run, and an auto theft. Have fun."

"Oh we will." Warrick said with a sigh as he set to work with Nick.

* * *

Three hours later, they were back at the lab, waiting for the results on the fingerprints they took off of the car. Mandy walked over to them, reading the results on the paper in her hands. 

"Sorry guys, all the prints came back to Dan Salik, the druggie." She handed Warrick the paper. "Got any more for me?

Nick shook his head. "Nope. That's all."

Warrick sighed. "And of course there's no traffic cameras, trace, or anything else that could help us find out who stole the car to begin with."

"He got lucky." Nick said with a shrug.

"Yeah, the son of a bitch gets away with helping get an innocent college kid killed because he was lost and the druggie just so happened to have a running car waiting for him. I wonder why the car got ditched anyway."

"Maybe he had something to do with the drug deal going down and had to get outta there or something." Nick suggested.

"Nah, it was a small thing, two guys running their own coke franchise with probably only one customer. We have nothing left."

By now, the pair had made it all the way back to the breakroom and had each poured themselves a cup of coffee and had taken a seat at the table. Nick's hands were shaking slightly, and Warrick couldn't help but notice.

"Are you sure you're okay Nick?" He asked, but Nick didn't hear him. He was so out of it, and it was starting to scare his best friend. "Nick!" He practically yelled, causing Nick to jump slightly.

"What?" He asked. His voice was squeeky and didn't sound like him at all.

"Are you okay? You're acting so weird."

Nick just sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"If you say you're fine one more time I'm gonna-"

Nick cut him off. "Really, I'm okay. Just not feeling so good from being run down and everything." Nick drank the last of is coffee and stood up to leave. "I'm gonna go home and get some sleep, I'll see ya later."

Warrick merely nodded. "Okay, feel better."

"Thanks." Nick mumbled as he left the breakroom. Warrick wasn't too far behind him, he was exhausted as well. But even more worried about Nick.

* * *

After a few hours of mindlessly walking around his house and flipping through channels, Warrick couldn't stop himself from calling Nick. His gut told him something was wrong, so he picked up his cell phone and dialed the number he knew by heart, only to be answered immediatly by Nick's voicemail. That meant his cell phone was off. Nick's cell phone wasnever off. Knowing he was probably over reacting but not really caring, Warrick got in his car and drove over to Nick's house.

The front door was unlocked, and as soon as he walked in he knew it was a good thing he had come over. Dozens of beer bottles were scattered around the normally clean living room along with cigarette buts and empty packs. Nick was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, and his whole body was shaking. Warrick quickly went over and sat down next to him. He shook his shoulder to get his attention. When he did, the look on Nick's face only made him worry more.

"Nicky...are you okay ma-?" Warrick was inturrpted by Nick's fist hitting him in the face. It didn't hurt too much though, considering how drunk Nick was.

"Stop asking me if I'm okay!" He yelled. "I'm clearly not. What the fuck more do you want from me?"

"I want you to tell me what's going on. Let me help you Nick. You're scaring me."

"Oh, you're scared? You think you're fucking scared?" Nick stood up on his feet and swayed slightly. Warrick stood up right after him and held his arm firmly to steady him. "If you're scared, then I must be a lot more than scared." Tears started falling down Nick's pale cheeks. "Just leave me alone Warrick...I don't want you to get hurt from this too."

Warrick forced Nick to sit back down on the couch. "Nick, I have no idea what the hell is going on. But I can tell it's not good. Let me help you bro."

"It's too late to save me."

"No it's not man. Just calm down and tell me what's wrong."

Nick shook his head. "You don't understand. If you get involved, they'll kill you too."

"Who will?" Warrick asked.

Nick laughed humorlessly. "Why do you care so much? You should know by now that I'm not worth any of this. I should have just pulled the trigger when I had the cha-"

This time, Warrick inturrpted Nick, but not by punching him. He just pushed him back against the couch and held him there, forcing him to look him in the eyes. "You better not ever say that to me again. Don't even _think_ that."

Nick shrugged weakly. "Or what? You'll kill me?" He stared at Warrick mockingly. "By all means...please do. I'm begging you man. Help me out."

"Stop it!" Warrick shook Nick as hard as he could, but immediatly regretted doing so. Nick closed his eyes shut tightly and clenched his jaw together. His hands were shaking again and his skin felt hot to the touch. He pulled himself away from Warrick's grasp and stood up again. He slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his best friend.

"You're my best friend Warrick...that's why you gotta trust me on this. If anything happened to you because of me..." Nick trailed off as he started swaying a little more. His eyes slowly closed again, and just as his knees gave out and he began to fall forward Warrick stood up and caught Nick before he hit his head of the coffee table. He carefully put Nick on the couch and sighed heavily.

How was he supposed to help his best friend if he didn't even know what was going on?

Whatever it was, he knew it was worse than he thought. And it was only going to go downhill from there.


	3. Headstrong

"So trying to drink and smoke your problems away wasn't the most intelligent idea you've ever had, was it?" Warrick asked from the living room as Nick slowly made his way back in from the bathroom. He had been throwing up all afternoon from the excessive amount of alcohol he had drank last night. 

"I've had worse." He said as he sat down on the couch. He leaned his head back against the cushions and closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths and let them out slowly to keep himself calm.

Warrick sighed. "You really scare me when you do that ya know."

Nick shook his head slightly. "When I do what?" He asked.

"Drink like that. It's not good for you man. And you told me you quit smoking."

Nick shrugged. "I lied. Sorry." He opened his eyes and looked over at his Warrick, but what he was going to say was replaced by, "What happened to your face? You get in a fight or something?"

Warrick laughed sarcastically. "You don't remember a damn thing about last night do you?"

Nick shook his head. "No, I don't. I was more than a little drunk."

"You're tellin me Rocky."

Nick frowned. "Wait...you mean I hit you?" Warrick nodded, but Nick wasn't buying it. "No I didn't. Why would I hit you?"

"Beacause I want to help you, but you're apparently invinceable and don't need anyone. You got mad when I asked you if you were okay, and instead of telling me what's going on you punched me."

"I...wow." Nick sighed heavily and hung his head. "I'm sorry Warrick...I really am. I was drunk."

Warrick nodded again. "Oh, so that means you didn't mean it when you told me to kill you, right?"

Nick stared at Warrick with a blank expression on his face. "What?" He said after a few minutes.

"You told me that you wished you had killed yourself when you had the chance, and I told you to never say it again. Then you told me to help you out and kill you."

"I was drunk...I was probably just thinking of being buried alive and how you said you would be able to kill someone before after that airplane case or whatever...I don't even remember saying it, let alone why I did."

"You're right Nick, I could kill someone. But not _you_."

Nick was silent for a few minutes. He looked back down at the floor and basically whispered, "Do you think I could kill someone?"

Warrick shook his head, even though Nick wasn't looking at him. "No, I don't."

Nick closed his eyes, forcing a few tears to slide out from under them and trail down his face. "Well I did." His voice was so quiet that Warrick barely heard him. Either way, he didn't believe what Nick had just said.

"What did you say?" He asked.

Nick forced himself to look at Warrick. He smiled sadly and repeated himself. "I killed someone."

Warrick shook his head again. "Fuck off Nick."

"See. I told you that if I tried to tell you what was going on, you weren't going to believe me."

* * *

After Nick refused to tell Warrick anymore, the two guys went out and grabbed some In and Out. They ate in almost complete silence and drove back to Nick's the same way. A few times, Nick had come close to telling Warrick what he was dying to say, but just couldn't. He was too scared and ashamed to let his best friend know. He hoped he could make it all go away before it got too out of control. But when he walked in his front door, he knew that wasn't going to be happening.

It looked like a tornadoe had ripped through Nick's entire house. Everything was thrown on the ground and messed up. Drawers were turned inside out on the floor, all the books were off the book cases, the cushions on the couch were everywhere and the trash had also been ripped through. Nick's bedroom, bathroom and guest room looked the same way as the kitchen and living room. Warrick looked around open mouthed. But he was even more surprised when he saw Nick was smiling.

"Did I miss the punchline?" He asked sarcastically.

Nick's smile grew. "They actually thought they were gonna be able to find it."

"Who was gonna find what? If you don't start answering some questions man...I'm gonna have to kick your ass."

Nick didn't have time to answer. His cell phone rang, so he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled it out. He fliped it open and answer it.

"Hello?" He said.

"Bravo Nick. A job well done." The voice on the other line said. Nick recognized it immediatly.

"Thank you. That means a lot coming from you."

"I'm sure it does. Listen...I really need that package I know you have."

"What package?" Nick asked.

"The one Jeremy gave you. He ratted you out kid. So if you ever wanna see your big brother again, bring it to me and I'll let him go."

Nick shrugged. "You can keep him. He's caused me enough trouble as it is."

"I'll still be wanting that package though."

Nick laughed slightly. "Well then come and get it." He snapped his phone shut and put it back in his pocket. He walked over to the couch and made a spot for himself to sit down. He sighed and shook his head.

Warrick couldn't take it anymore. "Okay Nick...what the fuck is going on? Who was that on the phone? What were they looking for? And who is_ they_?"

Nick ignored the question. "You better get outta here man. This has nothing to do with you, but they won't care."

"Who? Tell me something!"

Nick shook his head. "No...just leave. Please." Nick stood up and walked over to Warrick. He tried to push him towards the door, but Warrick wasn't budging.

"Who are you so afraid of?" He practically yelled.

Suddenly, Nick's front door flew open and three men stormed through. "Probably me." The older of the three men said. The other two pushed Warrick out of the way and grabbed Nick, each one forcefully taking an arm. The older man wasted no time. He walked right up to Nick and punched him right in the ribs, causing Nick to double over.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Warrick said. He made a move to grab the guy who had hit Nick, but was stopped when he pulled a gun.

"Don't be...stupid Eric." Nick gasped.

The man with the gun, Eric, was still pointing the gun at Warrick but addressed Nick. "You're the one who's been being stupid. I told you to never, ever go against me. You made a bad choice."

Nick had finally caught his breath. "Sorry for any inconvienence I may have caused you. But if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you'd point the gun at me."

Eric looked over at Nick. "What?"

"He has nothing to do with this, so just point the gun at me."

"Ahhhh." Eric said with a small smile. "You finally have someone who you actually care about, not just yourself?"

"You only know me because I had to help Jeremy, so clearly you're wrong about me."

"No, I don't think so. I know you very well, better than you think. I haven't seen you in quite some time, but I bet you haven't changed much."

Warrick cleared his throat. "Umm...if you don't mind, I'm a little confused here. Why does this guy have a gun in my face?"

"He hasn't told you, has he?" Eric asked, turning back to Warrick.

"No, he hasn't mentioned any of this."

"Don't worry, there'll be plenty of time for that after. Right now, Nick has something he needs to do for me." Eric turned back to Nick. He pressed the gun against Nick's forhead, knowing that if Warrick tried anything his other guys, Tony and Ray, would take him out before he got the chance. Nick winced slightly at the cold barrel being jammed against his head, but didn't even look scared at all. "Tell me where that package is, or I'll kill you."

Nick just laughed. "Nice try, but I know you better than you obviously think I do. If you do that, you'll never find it. I'm the only one who knows where it is, and you know that. Like it or not, you need me."

Eric hit Nick above the eye with the handle of the gun. Blood trickled down from the cut right above Nick's left eyebrow. "Stop fucking around. You don't wanna screw with me, you've seen what happens when people do."

Nick shrugged. "I'm up for the challenge."

* * *

Sorry for the cliffhanger. The next chapter might not be up for a little while because I'm busy with school and another story I want to get finished. But the wait shouldn't be too long. Thanks for the reviews, they're always appreciated. 


	4. Hangman

Nick didn't want to open his eyes. He had an awful headache and his ankles were killing him. But curiosity of what was going on got the best of him, and he slowly opened his eyes and waited patiently for his vision to clear. When it did, he saw Jeremy and Warrick across from him, tied down in chairs. Except something was wrong. They looked like they were stuck to the ceiling. 

Nick looked down, and that's when he realized he was actually looking_ up_ at his feet. He was hanging upside down from his ankles with his hands tied behind his back and secured tightly to one of the belt loops on his jeans. Now he knew why he had a headache and his ankles hurt. He sighed and looked back to Warrick and Jeremy. Eric soon appeared with a smile on his face and crossed his arms.

"Good to see you finally woke up. Don't worry, you haven't been up there too long, it took us a little while to get you up there and over the pool."

Nick craned his neck so he could see the water below him. He could see his blurry reflection staring back in the clear water. "It may just be the headrush I'm getting from being upside down, but aren't we inside?" Nick asked.

"Indoor pool." Eric answered simply. "But let's just cut to the chase. We're going to play a little game." Eric started pacing back and forth on the other side of the pool on the edge, looking down into the water. "It's based off of one of my favorite games as a kid."

"Marco Polo?" Nick said. He suddenly began dropping towards the water, but stopped abruptly with a jerk after a few seconds. The rope tied to his ankles was strung through a pulley on the ceiling, and the other end of the rope was being held by Ray. Tony was standing next to Jeremy and Warrick holding a gun, just in case.

"No, hangman. And that was an example of how it's going to work. I'm going to ask you a question, and if I don't like the response you give me, you're gonna drop down. I **will **end up drowning you if I have to. So knock off the smartass comments and cooperate, will ya?"

Nick sighed. "I guess my hands are tied." He dropped another couple of inches closer for that one. He had started about five feet above the surface of the water and was slowly making his way down with every comment he made.

Eric stopped pacing and looked up at Nick. "Where's the package?"

"Actually...if you don't mind, I kinda wanna know what's in it first. I know it's important, but why?" Nick asked.

"I'll be the one asking the questions."

Nick tried to shrug, but really couldn't. "Fine, then I'll be the one drowning, leaving you with nothing except a dead body and a couple of hostages." Another few inches.

"Nick, stop fucking around!" Jeremy yelled. It was the first thing he'd said in a long time.

"Maybe I will when I find out what they're exactly looking for."

Eric yelled at Jeremy to keep his mouth shut before turning back to Nick. "Your brother is smarter than he looks. Being the good lawyer that he is, he kept papers, tapes, and whatever else on us to use as blackmail should anything come up that he would need it. He was trying to get out for good, like you did, but we couldn't lose both Stokes." Eric shook his head. "But that doesn't matter. Where is it?"

"Are you gonna clean my house if I tell you?" He dropped more again. Now he was only a few feet away from the water, and it was just a matter of time before he was under it.

"I'm really starting to get annoyed with your behavior Nick. I would strongly advise you to stop being a pain in the ass and tell me where the fucking package is." When Nick didn't say anything, Eric motioned to Tony, who pressed his gun against the back of Jeremy's head. "I'll kill him if you don't tell me in the next ten seconds."

"Go ahead, he's the reason I'm hanging upside down over a pool anyway. And he's the reason for everything I had to do for you in the first place. I only did it so you wouldn't kill him. I guess I was just postponing the inevitable."

That didn't sit too well with Eric, or Ray. Nick fell the last few feet until his head was totally submerged under water. He tried to pull himself up, but that only got him dropped deeper into the water. He was just about to pass out before he was yanked back up just enough so his head was out of the water. He shook his head so he could see without water running into his eyes. He finally caught his breath after a couple moments.

"I know this is a pretty weird time to be telling you all of this, but you need to know the truth before they kill me Warrick." He said. He tried to spit the taste of chlorine out of his mouth, but wasn't successful. He continued talking to his best friend. "When I was 15, Jere was working for them stealing cars and stuff. They used the cars to move drugs and whatever else they needed to. He got into debt with them cuz of drugs and totaled cars or whatever, and he couldn't pay it off so I had to go work for them so they wouldn't kill him."

"This is all very sweet of you Nick, but I ne-" Eric started, but was cut off.

"Let me explain this to him, then you can kill me." Nick said. He went on. "They taught me how to steal cars, so that's how I knew how to hotwire them."

"It was you, wasn't it?" Warrick asked. "You stole the Nissan that night and left it there."

Nick nodded slowly. "Yeah...that was me." He said softly. "But the druggie and his dealers weren't involved with me. Not those ones at least. Anyway...I did jobs and stuff with them until I graduated from college and got outta there."

"That's why he became a CSI." Eric chimed in. "So he could try and even out all the bad stuff he did, like dealing drugs, doing drugs, stealing cars, killing people..."

"It was one fucking person!" Nick said angrily.

"You still did it."

"Because you didn't have the guts to do any of the dirty work. That's why you needed me and Jeremy so badly."

Eric sighed. "True. But you were like a son to me Nick. That's why I taught you everything I know, I wanted you to take over for me one day."

"Sorry. I'm not a criminal." Nick said.

"Not anymore." Eric smiled evilly. "So, now that Warrick's gotten all caught up, why don't you go ahead and tell me where that package is so we can all go home?"

"You just said you taught me everything you knew. So you should know I'm smarter than that. As soon as you get it, I'm dead. So you're gonna have to do a lot better than hanging me over a pool Eric."


	5. Never Get Enough

Warrick was willing Nick to wake up soon to get rid of the tension in the room at the moment. They had been brought back into the emormous house. Warrick had been lead into a room at the end of the hall and pushed inside. Jeremy was taken into another room in a different part of the house. Ray had taken Jeremy, leaving Tony and Eric with him and an unconcious Nick. They had held him underwater again until he had passed out before bringing him inside and dropping him on the floor. Eric stood with his arms crossed, waiting patiently in the plain white room. There was no furniture other than a pipe in the corner and a metal chair. Warrick had been forced into the chair and didn't need to turn around to know that Tony had the gun ready in his hand and probably pointing it at the back of his head. 

Warrick stared at Nick for what seemed like hours. His breathing was deep and slow. A puddle had formed around his head from the water and turned the beige carpet a dark brown. When Nick had stopped struggling to pull himself up and went still, Warrick thought he had drowned. Those couple minutes of panic were something he had felt before involving Nick.

Now that he knew most of the story, Warrick didn't really blame Nick for not telling him. Although the things he had done were to help his brother, they still weren't legal and got a lot of people hurt. He had a completely different perspective of Nick now. He knew that he had become a CSI to try and make right what he had done wrong, and having once been a criminal himself is what made him so good at his job. But what if Nick had more secrets? He felt like everything he knew about Nick had been a lie and he didn't know anything about his best friend.

Looking down at Nick's pale face and thinking about everything they've went through made Warrick realize he didn't care about any of that. Okay, so Nick made some mistakes and did some things that he shouldn't have. But he had done it to help his brother, not because he necessarily wanted to. Despite all the things he's done in his past, Nick was still the best friend Warrick had ever had. He was pretty much the only friend he had ever had. Over the last few years, he looked at Nick as more than that. He was the brother he never had and would do anything to protect him. They had been to hell and back together, becoming better friend in the process. Warrick wasn't going to let this ruin it.

Warrick wished that Nick would wake up, or that someone would say something. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable position to be in. He wasn't involved in any of this other than by being Nick's best friend. He felt bad he couldn't do more to help, but he had only half made sense out of everything he knew. Not many things scared Warrick Brown, but he would admit that he was scared now. He was focusing more on his best friend lying on the floor than the details of what was going on.

When Nick finally began coughing water out of his lungs and rolled onto his side, relief washed over Warrick. He watched as Nick slowly sat up and caught his breath before looking around him. He sighed when he saw Eric and Tony, but didn't make eye contact with Warrick. He hadn't expected him to, but Warrick wanted to see Nick's eyes to see how he was holding up.

"Game's over already?" Nick asked.

Eric seemed to be more patient now than he had been. "Yeah, I got sick of you trying to lose. It's no fun that way."

Nick nodded. "Where's Jeremy?"

"I thought you didn't care about him?"

"Of course I do. He's my brother. What did you do to him?"

Eric smiled slightly. "Don't worry, he's fine. Just in another room hanging out with Ray. I'm sure they'll get along fine." Eric motioned to Tony, who nodded before leaving the room. He closed the door behind him. "Now Nick, I'm gonna give you one last chance. Out by the pool, you challenged me to do better to make you tell me what I want to know. That's dangerous for you and your friend here."

"Leave him alone." Nick said firmly.

"I'm not sure I can do that. I found your weakness, and I'm going to use it against you if I have to. But not right away. I have something worse planned just for you first, unless you help me out."

"Nick, just tell him where it is man." Warrick pleaded. He didn't want to see his brother go through any more awful experiences.

Nick ignored Warrick, though it took some effort to do so. He could tell Warrick was scared, and he was too. He was just doing a better job at hiding it. "Give me your best shot Eric." Nick said.

Eric nodded. "As you wish." As if on cue, Tony came back into the room with Ray behind him. Ray had a hammer and Tony had a bag of nails, and they both had evil smiles on their faces. Eric pulled his gun out of the back of his pants and pointed it at Nick. "Stand up."

"You won't shoot me. It's probably not even loaded."

Eric adjusted the gun slightly and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew out of the barrel and skimmed across Nick's left shoulder before hitting the wall, leaving a deep cut in Nick's flesh in the process. "Stand up." He repeated.

This time Nick stood. His hair was still wet from the pool and water was running down his face and neck. Tony and Ray handed their tools to Eric before walking over to Nick and grabbing him. They pushed him back against the wall and held him there, waiting for Eric.

"This is your last chance Nick. Tell me where it is."

"Fuck you." Nick said.

Eric nodded. Upon doing so, Tony and Ray each grabbed one of Nick's wrists and put them flat against the wall a few inches above his shoulders and away from his face. They used their other hand to hold his shoulders against the wall as well. One of their arms was stronger than both of Nick's, and Nick was a pretty strong guy.

Eric pulled a a couple two inch nails out of the plastic bag and walked over, standing toe to toe with Nick. "I'm afraid I'm going to enjoy this a lot more than you." Over his shoulder to Warrick he said, "Try anything, and we'll kill you both."

He held the nail against Nick's open palm and smiled before raising the hammer and slamming it against the top of the nail. Nick yelled out in pain as the steel pushed its way into his flesh. It took another couple whacks before it was completely through his hand and into the wall, holding it there firmly. Blood trailed down from the nail down Nick's arm all the way to his elbow. Eric did the same thing with Nick's other hand before stepping back and sighing in satisfaction. Ray and Tony stepped back as well.

Nick clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut as hard as he could and tried not to think about the searing pain in his hands. His knees started shaking from dizziness and the pain, but he knew he couldn't let them buckle. If they did, all of his weight would be put on the nails that were now pinning his hands against the wall behind him. Blood dripped from his elbows onto the carpet, leaving dark red stains. He didn't open his eyes even though he knew Eric was now standing in front of him again.

Warrick stared open mouthed at the awful sight in front of him. It was hard to watch, but he couldn't look away. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it wouldn't go away. He wanted to get up and beat Eric with the hammer until he stopped moving for what he had just done to his best friend. But all he could do was sit there and watch Nick.

Eric pulled a pocket knife from his pants and flipped it open. He held it against Nick's throat with such force blood started to trickle down from the tiny cut he was causing with the sharp blade. Nick opened his eyes and stared at Eric. His hands were throbbing and he was starting to lose the feeling in his fingers.

"You're really making a mess out of one of my guest rooms Nick." Eric said sarcastically. He took the blade off of Nick's neck and moved it to his left collarbone. He pressed it down until he ripped the fabric of Nick's shirt and began dragging it diagonally across Nick's chest, cutting the t-shirt and Nick's skin. The cut wasn't too deep, but deep enough. Eric ripped off Nick's shirt and threw it on the water and blood stained carpet. "Feel like telling me where the package is yet?" He asked.

Nick shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll wait to lose a little more blood before I let you know. Thanks for asking though."

Eric punched Nick in the ribs with his knife free hand before reached up and grabbing Nick's elbows. "You've made a very, very big mistake." He pulled down on Nick's arms, cauing his hands to restrain against the nails. Nick yelled out again and kneed Eric in the groin. He stumbled back a few feet before straightening back up and glaring at Nick. He moved so fast and so close to Nick that their noses were almost touching.

"You're gonna regret that."

"What are you gonna do, kiss me?" That earned Nick a punch to the jaw. He spit blood from his mouth and looked back at Eric. "You can do better than mock crusifying me, can't you?"

Eric nodded. "Oh yeah I can. And I plan to." He pressed the edge of the knife against Nick's skin right above where the line of his boxers started. Nick tried to pull back, but the wall behind him prevented him from doing so. "Why don't we add castration to crusifixtion?"

Nick looked down at the knife above his groin, then back at Eric. "You're gonna need a bigger knife."

Under any other circumstances, Warrick would have burst out laughing. Except he knew that this was gonna piss Eric off and intice him to follow through with what he wants to do to Nick. He closed his eyes tightly and turned his head, unwilling to watch.

Eric didn't respond to Nick's suggestion. He instead added more pressure to the knife and jerked his hand to the right, causing the blade to slice across Nick's stomach. Dark, warm blood poured from the cut and over the waistband of his jeans and boxers.

"Let's see how long it takes you to pass out from blood loss before we take this lesson another step." Eric snapped the knife shut and put it back into his pocket. He left the room with Tony and Ray following him. The door closed and locked behind them.

Warrick opened his eyes and looked at Nick. He was relieved to see that the cut was on his lower stomach and not further south. He stood up quickly and went over to him. He picked up Nick's ripped t-shirt and firmly held it against the bleeding wound. Nick flinched and kept his eyes away from Warrick's.

"Do you have to egg him on like that?" Warrick asked. He pressed on the cut harder to stop the bleeding.

"Bad habit I guess."

Warrick laughed humorlessly. "Well could ya knock it off? I don't wanna watch my best friend get castrated."

Nick looked up and finally met Warrick's eyes. "You don't hate me?" He asked dumbfounded.

Warrick shrugged. "You didn't do anything to me. We'll talk about that later. Let's just focus on getting out of here."

Nick sighed. "Too bad that won't be as easy as pissing Eric off."

* * *

I've been able to update a lot more than I thought I was going to. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up. I really like writing this story, and so far from the reviews you guys like it too. Thanks for the feedback. 


	6. Take One for the Team

As soon as he heard his younger brother yell out in obvious pain, Jeremy had run to the door and tried as hard as he could to get it open, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to. He banged his fists on the door until his knuckles were bruised and bloody. He slowly backed away from the door until he hit the far wall with his back and slid down so that his knees were against his chest. He tightly gripped his hair with both hands and tried not to completely lose it. Knowing there was nothing he could do to save his little brother from something that was his fault was unbearable. He had never meant for it to end up like this. He hadn't even known Nick was involved with anything until two years after he had started. And no matter what Jeremy said to him, he wouldn't quit. 

He wanted to know what was going on, but was afraid at the same time. Jeremy knew all too well what Eric was capable of, and kept playing worst case scenarios over in his head about what could be happening to Nick at this very moment. He knew his brother wouldn't just keep his mouth shut either. He had always been sarcastic, and his hatred for Eric only made it worse with all of his smartass comments.

When Ray came back in with a smug smile on his lips, Jeremy's heart dropped.

"What did you do to him?" He asked.

"Don't worry about it. He'll be fine, for now."

Jeremy stood on his shaky legs. "If you hurt him...I'll kill you."

"If I remember correctly...this all goes back to being your fault in the first place. So I'd watch it with the threats, seeing as how your little brother's nailed to a wall because of you."

Jeremy fell back against the wall and covered his face with his hands. He tried to shake the image of Nick bleeding to death from his mind, but he couldn't. He hated himself for being the cause of all of this. He should have never put Nick in danger with that package in the first place, even though that wasn't the only reason Eric was doing this.

Eric wanted to make Nick pay for leaving.

He wanted Nick to pay for going against him.

And he wanted Nick to pay for being better than he was.

* * *

By now, Nick's arms were shaking and he couldn't feel anything above his wrists. Warrick had tried to pull the nails out, but only worsened the pain because he couldn't get a good enough grip on them. The gash on Nick's stomach stopped bleeding so much, and the one across his chest wasn't nearly as bad. His face was pale and his eyes were hazy looking. Warrick had to keep Nick from passing out so the weight wouldn't rip the nails through his hands. He held Nick steady by his waist and kept talking to him so he wouldn't just fall asleep.

Neither one of them had expected Eric to come back in as soon as he had. When he did, the look in his eyes told them what they already knew. He was pissed off, and wanted nothing more than to make Nick suffer more than he already had. He walked up and pushed Warrick to the side. Nick's shoulders slumped without the support and he winced in pain. Without a word, Eric pulled the hammer from his belt and pried the nails out of Nick's hands. Nick yelled in pain before falling to his knees at Eric's feet.

Eric kneed Nick in the mouth, sending him backwards and banging into the wall. Nick fell onto his side and spit blood from his mouth. He tried to focus on the pain in his jaw and not his hands to make it seem not so bad, but it didn't work out that way.

They were lead out of the room by gunpoint and taken to the back yard of the house. Jeremy was already out there, handcuffed to a lawnchair next to a standing Ray. Warrick was also forced into a similar chair next to Jeremy, but he wasn't handcuffed. The two exchanged glances. Warrick could see the fear and sadness in Jeremy's eyes, and actually felt sorry for him. He knew he wasn't a bad guy, mostly from how Nick talked about him. You could tell just by looking at him and knowing he was Nick's brother that he would trade places with him if he could.

"Excuse the slight mess out here." Eric said finally. "I'm building a porch out here, that's why there's so much contruction stuff. Could come in handy though."

"Eric the toolman Taylor...that's kind of ironic." Nick said. For having just been nailed to a wall, having his stomach cut and losing all the blood he had, Nick's voice wasn't shaky at all. It still beared his slight Texan accent and humorous tone.

"It's a shame you won't have anything to say in a few minutes Nick." Eric said.

"Are you gonna cut my tongue out?"

Eric shook his head. "No, but that wouldn't be a bad idea." He turned and looked over at a patch of dirt to his right about 15 feet away from them. A shovel was stuck in the ground next to the hole around the plexiglass box. "You're just going to be speechless."

Nick followed Eric's eyes over to the hole. His heart dropped into his stomach and he could hear it beating in his ears. But he wouldn't show his fear. "Planting a garden?"

Eric nodded. "In a sense. I'm going to use your best friend if you don't mind." Tony grabbed Warrick and brought him to his feet. He was brought over and they stood next to the hole, waiting for Eric. "Go ahead Tony, show's yours."

Tony lifted the gun and pointed it right in between Warrick's eyes. "Get in."

Nick's heart skipped several beats. "NO!" He yelled. He took a step towards Warrick, but Eric held him back. "Don't do that...not to him. Please don't."

"Would you rather we put Jeremy down there?" Eric asked in amusmant.

Nick shook his head. "No...no. I will...I'll do it."

Eric's face was blank for a minute, then turned to a wide smile. "You really think you can last down there, again?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah...well I can try. Please...don't make him do that. I will, I won't even put up a fight."

Eric considered for a moment before shrugging. "This could be interesting. Okay Nick, go ahead. It's all yours."

Warrick tried to protest as Nick slowly climbed into the box and laid down. He would have said something if he had any air in his lungs that would allow him to do so. All he could do was look into Nick's eyes and yell at himself to say something, _anything_ to stop Nick from doing this again. He was pushed out of the way and forced back out of view of Nick. Eric replaced him, standing over Nick and looking down at him.

"If you wanna bail yourself out, feel free." He said before dropping his gun onto Nick's bare chest. Then he closed the lid, and in seconds Nick was out of sight under the dirt.

Warrick was pushed back into his chair. He sank down heavily and stared at where Nick had just been buried. He was surprised to hear nothing but silence. He had expected Nick to yell and try to get himself out. But there was no sound coming from there at all.

Eric and Jeremy were yelling at each other about something, but Warrick wasn't paying any attention. He had the image of Nick with the gun to his head replaying over and over in his mind, like he was watching it on the screen in the A/V lab all over again. He thought it was his imagination at first, but by the reaction's of everyone else, he knew he wasn't hearing things.

The sound of a gunshot had come from where Nick was buried underground.


	7. Won't Back Down

Warrick's heart was beating so fast it felt like his ribs were going to crack from the pressure. Everyone went silent and stared at the spot where they had last seen Nick before he had been covered completely with dirt. No one moved or said anything for what seemed like forver. Then Eric broke the tension. 

"Ray, go see if the kid blew his brains out."

Warrick moved to attack Eric, but Tony held him back with ease. "If anything happened to him..."

"Hey, it's not my fault if he killed himself."

"You buried him!" Warrick yelled. He was pretty amazed that Eric didn't seem to care too much about this. He wasn't surprised at Jeremy though. He had closed his eyes and covered his face in his hands, fearing the worst for his little brother.

Ray hurried over to the spot and quickly dug up a few shovel fulls of dirt before reaching down and hauling the cover up. It took a couple tries because there was still a lot of dirt on it, but he finally got it up. He didn't even have time to be confused.

Another gunshot rang out, and Ray stood rigid for a second before slowly falling backwards onto the ground and laying still.

Eric didn't hesistate at all. He crossed the five feet between him and the hole in a second and was soon standing over it. There was yet another gunshot, but Eric didn't even flinch as the bullet whizzed past his arm and hit the house behind him. He kicked his foot out, knocking the gun out of Nick's shaking hand. The blood loss and wound on his hand had made it hard for him to hold the gun up and fire, but he had managed. He had also managed to piss Eric off to a whole new degree.

He picked the gun up off of the ground and pointed it into the hole. "You are proving to be way too much of a hassle Nick." He said before pulling the trigger. His intent hadn't been to kill Nick though. He knew enough about where to shoot someone if you wanted the process to be slow and painful for them to die, or just painful. The bullet hit Nick in the right shoulder, casuing Nick to yell out in pain.

"Shut up and get out before I kill you."

Nick heeded the warning and slowly dragged himself out of the box, leaving behind shallow pools of blood that covered the entire bottom of the plexiglass. Once he got over the joy of seeing he was still alive, Warrick noticed Nick was shaking slightly. Probably more from being back in that hellish situation then anything else. Nick stood in between Eric's gun and where Warrick and Jeremy were sitting with Tony behind them. He put himself there for a reason.

"I must admit, that was pretty clever."

"Thank you." Nick said. Somehow, his voice still held confidence and was steady as ever.

"But it didn't accomplish much. It only pissed me off more."

"I didn't think that was possible." Nick said. He was trying to apply pressure to his bleeding shoulder, but the damage done to both of his hands weren't allowing him to do so.

"Oh it is, and you did it. Congratulations, you're a dead man."

Jeremy picked this opportunity to try and do something right. "You can't kill him because you need that package."

"On the contrary." Eric said with a smile. "I don't need the package. True, Nick is the only one who knows where it is. But then it doesn't matter if he's dead or not, because no one will be able to find it. If no one can find it, they won't be able to use it against me."

Nick sighed in mock-defeat. "Yeah...I guess all the cops will have on you then is murder."

Eric raised the gun again at pointed it right at Nick's heart. "I have so had it with you kid."

"This isn't easy for you, is it?" Nick asked.

Eric shook his head. "What are you talking about?'

"You said yourself I was like a son to you, and that means a lot seeing as how you never had any kids. You've called me 'kid' at least twice tonight. Almost everyday you would tell me how you couldn't wait for me to take over for you because I would be even better at it then you were. And then when I got out, you almost killed me then, but couldn't. So what makes you think you can now?"

Eric stared at Nick for a few seconds before coming up with a suitable answer. "You were only better because I taught you everything I know. I made you what you were."

"And it pisses you off that I never really wanted anything to do with how you lived your life. I only worked for you to help Jeremy, and you know that. You hate me just as much as you like me."

"Don't flatter yourslef Nick."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I shouldn't go as far as to say you like me. You don't care about anyone but yourself. But I'm not too worried, you never had much of a shot. You'd probably miss me."

Eric snorted. "Did you forget the grazing of your shoulder, and the bullet that's in the other one?"

"My point exactly."

"No, my point. I can put a bullet anywhere I need to. Including right in your heart."

"Come on then, do it. I won't even move."

Eric hesistated for the first time all night. Truth was, he really did like Nick. He was like a son to him, but a son that had betrayed the family and left. A son that had truly disappointed and pissed him off, but a son nonetheless.

"I have a better idea. Why don't I kill your brother and best friend in front of you, then kill you?"

Nick shook his head. "_Or_, you can stop stalling and just kill me." When Eric didn't respond, Nick turned around and looked at Warrick. Something in his eyes told Warrick that crazy as it sounded, Nick knew what he was doing and that everything was going to be okay. Warrick hoped Nick's eyes were giving away as much now as they always had.

"You should have stuck with it Nick. You would have been great."

Eric pulled the trigger a fraction of a second before Nick's legs gave out and he started to fall to his knees. Nick felt the bullet tear through part of his right ear and go sailing past as his knees hit the ground. He slowly forced himself to stand back up and smiled slightly at Eric.

"Sorry man, I wasn't expecting that to happen. Move in, make it a little easier."

Eric practically ran up to Nick and thrusted the gun against Nick's forehead. "You little fucker! I regret teaching you anything, you never put it to good enough use. You were a waste of my time."

"Then pull the trigger." Nick said with a smile. Eric did, but was surprised by the sound of an empty _click_. He frowned and pulled again, only to be met with the same sound. Nick, on the other hand, had apparently expected it.

Nick's smile widened. "Guess you taught me more than you thought." He said before punching Eric in the face. The blow sent the other man stumbling backwards. He hadn't seem it coming, and was surprised at how hard Nick was able to hit him considering all the physical damage that he's been through so far.

Eric held up a hand to stop Tony from intervening. "It's okay, I can take him." He said. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "That was a mistake."

"You made a bigger one when you put a gun to my head and threatened my best friend and brother. If you wanna kill me, then give it your best shot."

Eric shrugged slightly. "What are you trying to do? Prove to everyone you're better than me?"

Nick shook his head. "No, I don't have to prove anything. But I think you want to. So let's go."

To be honest, the best way to describe it was like a scene from a movie. Where the good guy and the bad guy fight at the end, fist to fist, and everyone just watches. Every single person in the backyard knew it wasn't a fair fight because Nick had been hung upside down, almost drowned, nailed to a wall, put in a box, and shot. Even though Eric was at least 10 years older than Nick, he was in good physical shape, especially compared to Nick at the current time.

Depite all that had happened to him, Nick was still holding his own. Every punch Eric threw, he either ducked or blocked it. He got more shots in than Eric did. But then he started to get tired, all the blood he lost started going against him. He did more to avoid Eric's fists then to use his own. When his vision started to blur and he couldn't see straight, Eric took full advantage of it. He punched Nick in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Nick doubled over, flinching everytime Eric punched him in his already battered ribs. Nick straightened back up and punched Eric in the face and chest a couple of times. It was clear just by watching them this one time that they were both good fighters.

Then everything started spinning, and Nick was having a hard time standing up. Eric caught him with a right hook in the jaw, making Nick turn slightly towards the house they were almost right next to. He then grabbed Nick by the neck and pushed him the last couple steps before he threw him through the window on the side of the house. Nick's head shattered the glass. He went through all the way up to his shoulders before stopping and falling back and away from the house. He landed on his back with his eyes closed. Shards of glass were stuck in the deep cuts on his face, neck and shoulders.

Eric took a few steps towards Nick, the whole time thinking he was going to win. Until, without even opening his eyes, Nick kicked out as hard as he could. His foot connected with Eric's shin, snapping the fragile bone in half. Eric screamed out in pain and shifted all of his weight onto his left foot.

He should have fallen to the ground instead.

Nick stood up as quickly as he could. He swayed on his feet a little, but that didn't stop him from punching Eric in the nose so hard he felt the cartilage shatter on impact. Eric's eyes closed as he fell back onto the ground and lay still.

Warrick got up and ran over to Nick just in time to catch him as he fell to the side. He slowly lowered Nick to the ground, but didn't let him lay down for fear that he would fall asleep and never wake up. Neither one of them flinched or turned around when they heard a gunshot followed by a loud thud. Nick's eyes were shadowed and tired, and he was having a hard time keeping them open. He spit blood from his mouth a few times. Warrick checked to make sure Nick's jugular hadn't been lacerated and that all the other cuts weren't extremely serious. He was definitely going to have a headache after that one though. To keep Nick steady, he gently put his hands firmly on Nick's shoulders and rested his elbows in Nick's knees, minding all of the cuts and bullet wounds.

"Stay with me man." He said softly. "You're gonna be fine."

"The ambulance and cops are on their way." Jeremy called from off to Warrick's right. He just nodded his response, keeping his eyes on Nick.

Nick raised his shaky arms and put his hands on Warricks forearms, gripping them as tightly as he could. "I'm sorry I got you into this."

Warrick shook his head. "Don't be sorry for anything. Just worry about getting outta this, okay? Don't think about anything else, just relax. You're gonna be okay."

Nick nodded slowly. He focused on Warrick's green eyes as best as he could. "My head's killing me." He said.

Warrick couldn't help but smile. "Well you did get put through a window bro."

Nick laughed slightly. "Yeah, I know. Fucking windows." He took deeps breaths to help keep his focus away from the excrutiating pain. When he couldn't see Warrick anymore and his vision was clouded by black, he started to panic a little. "I can't see anything..." He said, His voice fading to almost a whisper.

Warrick squeezed his shoulders without causing anymore pain. "You don't need to see anything. Just listen to me. Listen to my voice. You're gonna be fine. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you anymore. You're gonna be okay."

Nick nodded slightly and closed his eyes. He let his head hand slightly as he listened to everything Warricck was saying to keep him calm. Before he knew it, he was being strapped into a stretcher and loaded onto the back of the ambulance with Warrick right next to him, as always.

Jeremy watched his little brother be put in the back of the ambulance and rushed away. He hated himself for not going over to Nick and trying to help him, to see if he was okay. He just stood there and watched Warrick do **his** job. He wasn't mad at Warrick, just at himself. He was supposed to be Nick's big brother, but had never done a good job at that. Ever.

Jeremy gave the police the best statement he could before Nick's boss drove him to Desert Palms hospital. If something happened and Nick didn't make it out of this, he would never forgive himself. Even if Nick ended up perfectly okay, he probably still wasn't going to.


	8. Failure by Design

Warrick had just finished giving his statement to Brass when Grissom and Jeremy came basically running into the waiting room and up to them. 

"Is he okay?" Jeremy choked out.

Warrick sighed. "They don't know for sure yet. He lost a lot of blood and everything...but they think he should be alright."

Grissom sighed in relief. "Good." He turned to Brass, changing from worried friend to professional. "A few CSIs are at the house with a couple of your guys...will you send more to be safe?"

Brass nodded. "Already on their way. I also have a background check running on Eric Taylor and his guys to see what else we can find, just in case."

Grissom turned to Jeremy. "Will you excuse us for a moment? I need to speak to Captain Brass and Warrick for a moment." Jeremy nodded weakly and walked out of the waiting room, heading towards the cafeteria to get some much needed food. Grissom turned back to Warrick. "What happened?"

"Nick's brother got in a little trouble with them years ago, and they just wanted payback."

Grissom looked at Brass, who shrugged. "Jeremy said the same thing. Nick and Warrick were just bystanders. Eric apparently loathed Nick and tortured him to piss off Jeremy."

"And me." Warrick added angrily.

"Okay...Warrick, stay here with Jeremy until Nick gets out of surgery and you can see him. Call me if anything changes or for whatever reason. I'm gonna go back to the house and see what else I can do." Grissom said.

"Okay." Warrick said simply as Brass and Grissom took their leave. He sank into the plastic chair of the waiting room behind him and his hands finally stopped shaking when he saw Jeremy return. Nick's old brother took the seat across from Warrick and he smiled sadly.

"Thank you." He said.

Warrick shrugged. "For what?"

"Doing what I should have done. Being there for Nick when I was too scared to."

"Jeremy, you're being too hard on your-" Warrick started, but was cut off.

"No, it's true. You're a better brother to Nick than I've ever been. You were there with him tonight, and all the other times he was in trouble. I didn't even come visit him until a month after that kidnapping thing because I was too afraid. Of my own brother. He's really lucky he has you, because I'm a complete fuck up."

Warrick shook his head. "That's not true man. Nick looks up to you...I can't be a better brother to him than you. You _are_ his big brother, no one can beat that."

"I did more harm than good for that kid. This is all my fault, and I couldn't even try to make it okay. He's gonna hate me for this."

"No he won't." Warrick said, but Jeremy didn't seem to hear him. He buried his head in his hands and fell silent. They sat like that for what seemed like days before Dr. Manah came back in and addressed Warrick.

"Mr.Brown." He said as Warrick stood and they shook hands. Jeremy looked up and just watched.

"Is Nick okay?" Warrick asked anxiously.

"We managed to stop all the bleeding, external and internal, and remove the bullets. He's stable right now, and I don't see any problems in the near future. We are, however, keeping a close eye on his heart to be on the safe side. He came out of surgery an hour ago, and all tests came back fine. He should be waking up soon, and you can see him when he does."

"Dr. Manah?" A young, blonde nurse said from a little ways down the hall. "Mr. Stokes **is** waking up now."

"Perfect timing." Manah said. "Only one of you can go in at once so he won't be overwhelmed, but you can stay as long as you like as long as he gets some rest." Warrick nodded and thanked Manah before he left to go check on more patients. He turned to Jeremy and motioned to Nick's room down the hall.

"Go ahead." He said.

Jeremy shook his head. "No, I can't see him. Not like that...it was my fault. You go, you're more of a brother to him than I am."

Warrick didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything at all. He just turned slowly and went into Nick's room as quietly as he could. He sat down in the chair next to Nick's bed and waited patiently for his best friend to fully wake up. When Nick's eyes were completely open, he looked around him in confusion. Then when he realized where he was, he held up his hands in front of him and frowned at the bandages on both of them.

"What's wrong?" Warrick asked.

Nick let his hands dropped back onto the bed before looking at Warrick. "I just...I figured that if I made it this far, I'd wake up with handcuffs on, not just bandages."

"That would only happen if you got arrested." Warrick said simply.

"Well, I thought I was gonna be considering I stole a car, getting an innocent person killed and shot two other people."

"Self-defense."

Nick laughed humorlessly, causing pain to course through his cracked ribs. "Yeah, right."

"Plus, how would the police know all that? Or anything else you did?"

Nick stared at Warrick blankly for a few minutes. "You didn't...why didn't you tell them?" He asked.

Warrick shrugged. "Why would I? The golden rule is you never rat on your friends."

Nick closed his eyes. Cuts covered his face and neck, and of course his chest and hands that were covered in bandages. His skin was pale, and he somehow looked skinnier than he had before this whole thing had started. Nevertheless, he still had his strong voice laced with the Texcan accent.

"I lie to you...almost get you killed...and you don't tell the police what an awful person I am? After everything you know I've done?"

Warrick shook his head, even though Nick couldn't see him. "Why would I tell them you're an awful person? I don't wanna lie to the cops Nicky."

Nick opened his eyes and smiled. "Thanks man." He almost whispered.

Warrick shrugged again. "You would have done the same thing for me."

Nick nodded in agreement. "If given the chance." He said. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before remembering his brother. "Where's Jeremy?" Nick asked.

Warrick paused for a second before saying, "He's out in the waiting room. Only one of us could see you at a time."

Nick understood exactly what that meant. "So he was too scared to see me again." He said and shook his head. "I guess I should be used to it by now...he's okay though, right?"

Warrick nodded. "Yeah, he's fine. He's worried about you though...he's a nervous wreck."

Nick just closed his eyes to try and make his awful headache go away, but that didn't work. He wasn't mad to see Warrick at all. It was good to know his best friend cared about him and that he too was okay and was always there whenever he woke up from situations like these. He just wished that his brother didn't hate him so much and would just pretend to care, for once.


	9. Solace

Warrick was trying very hard to make sense of everything. He had just seen Nick. He had spoken to him. He was supposed to be fine. But Dr. Manah was trying to tell him otherwise. 

"Nick had an allergic reaction to the morphine we've been giving him for the pain. All the throwing up he did caused more damage to his ribs, and he's now in a very severe state of pain due to not getting any relievers or sedatives."

Warrick shook his head. "How come he was fine when I saw him?"

"He wasn't aware of the pain because he was still on morphine and had a bad concussion. Now he's not in so much of a daze and he probably doesn't even remember that happening."

"But he was fine...I talked to him like nothing had ever happened, he remembered everything. Are you telling me now he's not?"

Dr. Manah sighed. "The affects of what happened to him are now starting to fully take their toll on Nick's body. All the drugs are wearing off, and now that he's awake everything's much worse. He's so weak from all the blood loss, and his heart's weaker than it should be. It's having trouble working as hard as it has to."

"What if he eats something? That should help him get some stength." Catherine offered. She had arrived shortly after Warrick had went in to see Nick, and her hopes had been dashed since he came out.

"He can't. The deep knife wound pierced his intestinal tract. If he ate, it would be very painful and cause more damage than it would help. I can't say for sure what's going to happen in the long run, but it doesn't look good as of right now."

* * *

Nick was extremely confused. The dizziness wouldn't go away, and neither would the pain. He tried to clench his fists, but that only made his hands hurt more. That's when he noticed he couldn't feel his fingers. 

He raised his hands above his face and stared at them. He could barely move his fingers, but couldn't feel them moving or anything. He pressed his hands into the sheets of the bed, but it only felt like he was touching air. And to make matters worse, his vision hadn't cleared up since he woke up. The outskirts of his vision were dark and blurry, and he couldn't really see anything unless he was looking directly at it. He felt like he was at a pitch black crime scene and could only see what he shined his flash light on.

_Why is everything going wrong? I felt fine before...now I can't even move. Why do I feel like I've been drained of everything in my body?_

He was now at the point where his muscles were sore from all the shaking. He was freezing and hot at the same time. Every breath he took felt like it only made it half way to his lungs before disappearing. His head hurt enough already without the added stress of his messed up vision. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, but couldn't. He felt like he was suffocating, but the deeper breaths he took, the more his ribs cried out in protest.

What worried him the most was he could feel the searing pain in his palms, but couldn't feel the soft fabric under his fingertips.

* * *

Greg sighed at the mess in front of him. He had been sent to Nick's house to look for any more evidence that could be found. 

"Talk about signs of a struggle." He mumbled to himself. He didn't know where to start, so he just looked around quickly to see anything that might jump out at him. The more he looked around, the more he realized that this was more than a struggle. Someone had been looking for something, and by the looks of the destroyed house, hadn't found it.

Greg's heartbeat increased ten fold when he remembered Nick's brother visiting him at the crime lab. He had been across the hall from them in Hodges' lab. He remembered the lab tech was going on and on about something that didn't matter, so Greg's attention had wandered across the hall to the break room. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him when he saw what appeared to be two Nick's, but then realized the other man was older looking and a little taller. He didn't think twice about it then when he saw Jeremy hand Nick a bulging envelope, but now he was starting to piece together what Brass had told him back at the house they found Nick and Warrick at.

Nick's brother had been involved with Eric Taylor and his friends when he was younger and had gotten himself into some trouble with them. But no one had thought Nick was involved too. They just thought he was the leverage to get Jeremy to cooperate because that's what they had been told. Greg didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but he had a funny feeling that Nick was involved more than they thought he was. He just needed to find that package before anyone else did so his friend wouldn't get into any more trouble.

The only problem was he had no idea where to start looking.

* * *

The only thing that kept Warrick from completely losing his mind was Catherine. She kept reassuring him that everything was going to be fine, that Nick always pulled through and he was going to this time. They sat in the waiting room for hours while more tests were run on Nick. Not knowing how their friend was doing was killing both Warrick and Catherine. 

Finally Dr. Manah returned with Nick's folder in his hands. He got right down to business. "We took an X-Ray of Nick's hands..." He trailed off, not sure how to continue. "And we found that tendons and nerves have been serverely damaged."

"How severe?" Catherine asked.

"He has limited mobility in his fingers and almost no feeling left. To him, it feels like his hands have gone completely numb. He can't feel anything in his hands above his wrists."

Warrick shook his head slowly. "Is there anyway to fix it?" He asked.

Manah sighed. "Unfortunately, no. The damage is permanent. But that's not even the worst of what we found."

Catherine gripped Warrick's hand in hers and tried to hold her tears back. "What else?" She asked softly.

"We're not 100 sure yet, but we think Nick's optical nerves have been damaged from the impact his head sustained with the window. His vision in dark and blurry, and he can't focus on something unless he's staring at it. I'm going to run a CAT Scan to find out the extent of the damage."

Warrick shook his head again. "You can't...Nick can't." Dr. Manah looked at him with a confused expression on his face. "He's claustrophobic." Warrick said.

"We can't be sure of what's wrong unless we run it...you don't think there's any way he can handle it?"

"I don't think so. He can't even watch people crawl through tunnels on TV."

"What if he's asleep?" Manah asked.

"No, cuz if he wakes up that'd be a lot worse."

Manah thought for a second before saying, "I can allow you to go in with him to keep him calm. As long as he doesn't move or talk that's fine. Could that work?"

"I don't know, I guess we're gonna have to try. Does he know he has to have one yet?"

Manah shook his head. "No, I wanted to inform you of the test results before...I think it'd be better if you talked to him before. You know him a lot better than I do."

Warrick nodded slowly. "Yeah...okay." He stood slowly and looked back down at Catherine, who smiled sweetly.

"He's gonna be okay if you're with him."

Warrick smiled back before turning and following Dr. Manah to Nick's room. He walked in slowly and hesitated for a second when he saw Nick's eyes fixed on him. His heart wrenched at the thought of his best friend not being able to see. He walked over to the chair next to Nick's bed and sat down without a word.

Nick closed his eyes and tried not to worry, but the glimpse he caught of the look in Warrick's eyes told him something was wrong. He could just tell.

"Nicky..." Warrick said softly, but loud enough to be sure Nick could hear him. "The doctors uh...they need to...you have to have a CAT Scan to see what's wrong with your eyes."

Nick opened his eyes and turned his head so he was facing Warrick. "Do I have to?" Nick knew exactly what a CAT Scan meant. A small space where he would be for up to an hour. He wouldn't be allowed to talk or move, even if he could in the first place.

Warrick nodded. "Yeah buddy, you do. They need to see if they can fix whatever's wrong. I'm gonna go in with you if you want me to...you can do this man. It's gonna be okay."

Nick smiled slightly. "I guess I don't have much of a choice."

* * *

Greg didn't know whether to hate himself or be proud of himself. He couldn't remember what made him think to check under Nick's couch, but he did. That's where he found the loose floorboard with the package underneath. Before he realized what he was doing, he had opened the package and took out the first thing he got his hands on, which was a stack of photos. 

He slowly flipped through them, not wanting to believe what he saw. He tried to tell himself the guy in the photos was Jeremy, even though he knew it was Nick. The main focus of the photos wasn't Nick, though. It was Eric, the dead guy back at the house, and the drugs or whatever else he was doing in the pictures.

Greg looked into the envelope and saw a few computer discs and casettes. Before anyone found him, he stuffed everything back in and bagged the envelope. He packed up the rest of his stuff and headed back to the crime lab. He was able to talk Archie into taking a coffee break so he could use the A/V lab without anyone else seeing or hearing what was on those tapes.

It was mostly of Eric giving out intructions to everyone else, but Nick was still on them doing things he shouldn't be. Greg finally understood what he wished he had never figured out.

"Eric needed to find this so they couldn't blackmail him with it..." He said outloud to himself. "Nick _and_ Jeremy worked for him." Greg put everything back into the package and slowly sat back in his chair. "Now what the hell am I supposed to do?"

* * *

Nick was surprised at how easily he was able to stay calm. All he had to do was close his eyes and listen to Warrick tell him everything was fine and that he was going to be okay. Not once did he think of Walter Gordon, ants, or suffocating. It was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be, but he was able to do it. 

"It's almost done Nick. It's almost over." Warrick's voice was reassuring, and without it Nick probably would have had a panic attack. "Just a few more minutes man, the you're outta here."

Warrick hadn't been lying. Soon enough, Nick was out of the small tube and back in his room. He was shaking slightly and still had a very bad headache, but other than that he was okay. But he still didn't understand what was going on.

"H-how come nothing hurt b-before?" Nick asked. His voice was quiet and shaky from the pain and weak state his body was in.

"You weren't really aware of what was going on and they were able to give you some drugs for it. But you're allergic to morphine, and they don't wanna make anything worse." Warrick explained. He wished he could do something to help Nick feel better, but he knew nothing would work. Nothing could make this pain go away.

Nick looked down at his shaking hands. "My hands aren't g-gonna get better, are they." He said as a statement rather than a question.

Warrick bit the inside of his cheek. He wished Eric was still alive so he could kill him for doing this to Nick. "No man...they're not. The damage can't be fixed."

Nick nodded slightly. "It just feels weird...like they're frozen or something. I guess I'll get used to it." Nick looked back up at Warrick. "What about my eyes?"

"They don't know for sure yet. They might be able to fix whatever it is that's wrong." Nick fell silent and the expression on his face was enough to make Warrick want to punch a wall. "Don't worry Nick, everything's gonna be okay. Just relax and get better for me bro. You're gonna be alright."

"What if I don't w-wanna be?" Nick's voice was barely above a whisper.

Warrick wished he hadn't been able to hear him. ""Why...what are you talking about? Why wouldn't you want to get better?"

"I'm sick of everything. I'm s-sick of everything I've done...I'm sick of being me. I j-just want everything to be ov-"

Warrick cut Nick off midsentence. "Don't finish that sentence. I don't care what you think, you're not giving up. I won't let you. If you quit, so do I. It's that simple Nick."

Nick wished it really was that simple. He wished he had the will to live. He wished he deserved to get better and have everything be alright for him again like it had been so many other times. He was sick of second chances and sick of starting over. He wanted everything to end, especially the pain. But he knew that as long as Warrick wasn't giving up, he couldn't either. He still had that one person who would never let him down, so he had to at least try and repay the favor his best friend had always done for him.


	10. Compromise

Greg knocked lightly on the door to Catherine's office. It was so quiet she had barely heard him. She looked up from the paperwork on her desk and smiled at the younger CSI. 

"Hey Greg...what's up?" She asked.

Greg slowly walked in and sat down in the chair opposite Catherine. He shoved his hands into his pockets so they would stop shaking. Or be less noticeable. "Can I...ask you something?"

Catherine put her pen down and gave Greg her full attention. "Of course. That's what I'm here for."

Greg nodded slightly and thought about how to go about saying this. "What if you found something out about a friend of yours...and it was your job to...like...get them in trouble for it. But if you didn't tell anybody, no harm would really be done."

Catherine could see right through Greg. "Well...what's more important to you, your friends or your job?"

"That's the tricky part." Greg mumbled.

"Greg...you're a smart guy. Use your judgement. If you think that whatever it is you know can go without anyone else knowing..." She trailed off, not exactly wanting to tell Greg to lie or destroy evidence or whatever he was planning on doing.

Greg was surprised at that answer. He had expected Catherine to basically tie him down until he told her what he had found out. He had a hunch she knew what it was about, and she too was very good friends with Nick. "Okay...thanks Catherine." He said with a small smile. He stood up and began to leave, but was stopped at the door by Catherine's voice.

"I'm sure that whatever you're doing, Nick appreciates it." She said. Greg turned, but Catherine had already gone back to her paperwork. Greg shook his head and his smile widened as he left the lab and headed for the hospital.

* * *

"You're absolutely positive that there's nothing you can do?" Warrick asked for the third time.

Dr. Manah shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry. The damage to Nick's optical nerves can't be fixed. His orbital bone shattered upon impact with the window, and attempting surgery with that injury could make him go completely blind. I wish there was more I could do."

Warrick sighed. "Thank you for everything you did do." Manah nodded slightly before turning and leaving Warrick standing outside of Nick's room. He clenched his teeth and forced himself to go into the room and tell Nick the bad news. His legs felt like lead as he walked across the room and sat down in the plastic chair still next to Nick's bed. His eyes were closed, but Warrick knew he was awake because Nick slightly lifted his hand when he heard Warrick sit down.

"Hey." He said weakly. His voice sounded the way his body would if it could talk. His skin was beyond pale. Nick had never been a big guy, but just looking at him you could tell he weighed a lot less than he should. The only way to describe how he looked was weak.

Warrick hated the way Nick looked and wished there was someway he could change it. "Hey buddy." He responded. "Listen man...I've got some bad news..."

"My eyes aren't gonna get any better, are they?" Nick whispered.

Warrick shook his head as Nick slowly opened his eyes. "No...they can't fix it." Warrick said. His voice sounded hollow to his own ears.

Nick nodded slowly. "I guess I deserve it."

Before Warrick could contradict Nick's statement, there was a soft knock at the door, followed by Greg slowly stepping in and blushing slightly.

"Uh sorry...am I inturrupting?" He said hesitantly.

Both older CSIs shook their heads. "No," Warrick said, "Not at all. What's up?"

Greg let the door close behind him and shoved his hands back into his jeans. "Can I...can I talk to Nick for a second?" He asked shyly.

Warrick looked at Nick quick, who slightly nodded. "Yeah, of course man. I need to get something to eat anyway." Warrick patted Greg on the shoulder as he passed him on his way out. Greg took Warrick's place in the plastic chair and stared down at the floor under his feet.

"What's up G?" Nick's voice sounded very different, and if Greg hadn't just seen him he wouldn't believe it was Nick who was speaking.

"I...don't exactly know how to say this." Greg said. He was still staring at the floor. "I was at your house...they told me to and it was a mess and I don't know why but I thought th-"

Nick cut Greg off. "You know, don't you?" He asked.

Greg looked up and met Nick's eyes. He was a little surprised the older man didn't look mad. "How did you know?"

Nick laughed slightly and winced from the pain that the action had caused in his ribs. "You're an easy read man. Besides, I figured someone else would eventually."

"Warrick knows too." Greg said, and Nick nodded. "I didn't tell anyone else though. Except kind of Catherine...she knows it has something to do with you somehow but she doesn't know what."

Nick smiled. "Greg, it's your job to find the evidence and tell people what you found out."

Greg shook his head. "But I don't want to tell anyone. It doesn't make any difference. Whatever it is that you did was a long time ago and it's not your fault Eric came after Jeremy and you. So it doesn't matter why he did because he's dead now so everything's good."

"I don't want you to get in toruble for not telling Grissom what you found out. You coul-"

This time it was Greg who cut off Nick. "I put it back where I found it. If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, how is anybody ever gonna know?"

Nick sighed. He knew there was no way he would be able to change the stubborn ex-labrat's mind. Compromise was the only option. "Fine. But if for whatever reason someone does find out and you're gonna get in trouble for it, you tell them I made you lie about it. Say I would tell them you manipulated evidence or whatever. I won't let you get fired for covering for me. Deal?"

Greg nodded. "Deal." He pulled his hands out of his pockets because he knew they had stopped shaking and let them rest on his knees. "So how are you feeling?"

"Better." Nick was able to hold back a yawn but couldn't stop his tired eyes from closing.

"I'll let you rest." Greg said as he stood and made his way to the door.

"Thanks." Nick mumbled right before the door closed behind Greg, just in time for him to hear it. Greg couldn't hold back a smile as he started walking down the hallway and out towards his car in the parking lot. He passed by Warrick on his way out.

"Everything okay?" He asked, a fresh cup of coffee in his hand.

Greg nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine."

Warrick smiled. "Good...I'll see ya later."

"Goodnight." Greg said as he walked away, his legs and heart feeling lighter than they had when he walked in earlier.

* * *

Jeremy paced back and forth in front of Nick's door. Warrick had checked on him about two hours ago, then had left when he had finally fallen asleep. His little brother had been in the hospital for over a week, and he still hadn't gone in to see him yet. What a great brother he was.

Everytime he passed in front of the small window on Nick's door, Jeremy looked through it, hoping Nick would be awake. He was practicing in his mind what he was going to say when he finally got the chance to talk to his brother. He knew that no matter how much he ran it over in his mind, it still wasn't going to be easy. Seeing how Nick looked--so pale, skinny, and weak--made Jeremy hate himself even more. He knew that what had happened to Nick was all his fault. He gave him the package that sent Eric after him. To protect his older brother, Nick wouldn't tell them where it was. Jeremy stopped in front of Nick's door and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he saw Nick's looking back at him through the tiny window. This is it. His last chance to try and do something right.

He slowly reached out and turned the handle on the door and pushed it open, keeping his eyes on Nick's the entire time.He was surprised his shaky legs carried him all the way over to the chair. He stood next to it for a second and was about to turn and leave, until he saw the look in Nick's eyes. He couldn't let his brother down again. So he sat in the plastic chair and smiled as best as he could.

"Hey Nick." He said. The greeting sounded stupid and out of place, but it was the only thing he could think of.

Nick didn't smile. "Hey." He said quietly. Nick's eyes were still on Jeremy, because if he looked anywhere else he wouldn't be able to see him, even if he was sitting only three feet away.

Jeremy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Look, I...I'm sorry. I never meant for it to end up like this. I swear to you I didn't know they would come after you."

"Even after you told them I had what they wanted?" Nick said coldly.

That felt like a dagger right to Jeremy's heart. "I didn't know what else to do...I thought you would give it to them."

"Why would I? You told me not to and I promised you I wouldn't. I just thought you didn't hate me so much and that you wouldn't tell them I had it."

Jeremy shook his head. "I don't hate you Nick. If anything, you're the one that hates me. I seem to remember you telling Eric to kill me a couple times."

"That's because I knew he wouldn't."

"Just like you knew he wouldn't kill you? If he had any bullets left, he wou-" Jeremy stopped himself and looked at Nick. He suddenly realized what Nick had been trying to do. "You knew he had no bullets left, didn't you?" He asked.

Nick nodded. "Ever since I can remember, Eric always talked about how perfect the number six was. I can't remember why he liked it so much, but he always had six bullets in his clip no matter what."

"So you counted all the ones that had been used? What if you were wrong?"

"I wasn't sure if it was five or six after he shot my ear, so that's why I told him to shoot me. So he wouldn't have anything left to shoot you or Warrick."

Jeremy didn't know what to say. He wished it has been something other than, "Tony had a gun too though."

Nick frowned slightly. "Oh yeah..."

Jeremy moved right along. "I'm sorry Nicky. I know I've never been a good brother no matter how hard I try.I didn't want you to get hurt like that...I would have never forgiven myself if you had..." He trailed off, not wanting to think about his little brother dying. "I just...I can't stand to see you hurt. I never know what to do because I get so worried. This was never my intention."

Sleep was tugging at Nick, and he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to stay awake. "I know it wasn't. It was Eric's intention to kill me, not yours."

"I would never want anything bad to happen to you. You're my little brother man...I love you kid."

Nick smiled for the first time in the last ten minutes. "I love you too Jere."

Jeremy smiled at the nickname Nick had always used for him. When he was little, for whatever reason, Nick couldn't say "Jeremy", so he just said the first syllable. And he still does.

Jeremy could tell Nick was about to fall asleep, so he decided to let him get some more rest. "I'll leave you alone...I'll come back later. Get some rest Nick."

Nick nodded slightly as his eyes closed. "Okay...bye." He said sleepily.

Jeremy left quietly. He sighed in relief when the door closed behind him. He felt better, although he knew that things were nowhere near perfect. But he had no clue what was still to come.


	11. Never Changing

The last month had been the longest of his life. He still wasn't used to not being able to use his hands nearly as much as before or the fact that his eyesight wasn't working out for him. He hated not being able to see the things around him, even though he had basically memorized the hospital room he had been cooped up in for what seemed like forever. He didn't understand why he couldn't do all of this recovering in his own bed, which was a lot more comfortable than the one he was in right now. Nick sighed heavily. He was slightly comforted by the fact that his ribs didn't hurt as much when he breathed, and everything else that had hurt like hell before was starting to heal. But all he wanted to do was go home. 

There was a soft knock at his door, followed by the knob turning and Dr. Manah walking in without Nick having to say anything. He was smiling from ear to ear, and Nick took this as meaning he had some good news. At least he hoped.

"Please tell me I can go home now." Nick said hopefully.

Manah held up a hand, but was still smiling. "Soon. I have some even better news though. About your eyes."

"You're giving me new ones?" Nick's humor never ceased, even in times like these.

Manah shook his head. "Not exactly." He opened the folder in his hands and glanced at it quickly before looking back at his patient. "There's a prescription eyeglass that can help with your unique situation. They'll bring the things you aren't looking directly at more into focus so it won't be so blurry."

"Well that's good news. But what about my job? I can't really find any evidence or process it if I can't see it."

"On the contrary. You'll be able to pick things out better because you can't focus on much. You'll be able to see the details rather the the big picture. And you'll remember obscure things better because you'll see everything individually. Think of it as putting a puzzle together. I just talked it over with your boss, he agrees."

"Sounds good to me." Nick said, a smile forming on his face for a brief moment. "But what about my hands?"

Manah's smile faltered. "That's where it gets tricky. Mobility is limited, but I think with enough practice and patience you should be able to manage. It won't be near normal, but it can get better with time."

Nick nodded. "I'll take your word for it. So when do I get to get out of here?"

"How does in about an hour sound?" Manah asked, his smile returning.

"Are you serious?" Nick's voice was full of excitement and hope. Manah nodded. "That's about an hour too long, but I'll take it."

-

Nick couldn't remember a time when he was so happy to be home. It felt like he hadn't been home in years and he was glad to finally be back. He slowly sank down into his leather arm chair and let his eyes close as his head fell back against the soft seat behind him.

Warrick smiled. He was just as glad as Nick that his best friend was back at his house, safe and sound. Nick had managed to pull through yet again, but not without it taking a huge toll on the young man. Nick wasn't going to be able to use is hands or his eyes as well as he could before, and Warrick just hoped that he'd be able to learn how to work with them. The last thing he wanted to see was his friend make it out of something as bad as he had and not be able to do what he loved anymore. Nick's job meant a lot to him, and if he lost it because of this...

Nick's eyes were still closed when he spoke. "You can yell at me now." He said.

"Why would I yell at you?" Warrick asked as he sat down on the couch so he could face Nick in the chair.

"For being stupid and ruining a lot of people's lives. And for getting an innocent person killed in that alley."

Warrick held back a sigh. He had been dreading, yet waiting to talk to Nick about this. "Look at me Nicky." He said. Nick opened his eyes slowly and looked at Warrick. "Everyone makes mistakes, especially when they're younger. Whatever you did...it probably wasn't right, but I'm sure you had a good reason. You didn't want anyone to die. I know you better than that man."

"I only did it because I was afraid they would kill Jeremy, so I helped him pay back his debt. Then I was too afraid to leave because I thought they'd kill me too. So I stayed as long as I could and got out."

"Why did Jeremy stay in?" Warrick asked.

Nick shrugged. "I don't know. I guess he was making a lot of money and Eric trusted him more. But he could tell it was getting out of hand, and he wanted out too. That's why he kept everything...he knew he would be able to use it against Eric if he ever had to. He didn't realize it involved me a lot too though."

Warrick nodded slightly. "What did you exactly do for Eric?"

Nick didn't hold back his sigh. "I stole cars for the first couple years and that was it. They needed fast cars that they could get rid of easily to move drugs and guns and whatever else they wanted. I was young, so they didn't give me too much responsibility or tell me what they were doing. Then when I turned 18, Eric had me selling drugs, making deals, and stealing other stuff, not just cars."

"I take it you were pretty good at it too."

"I got the hang of it." Nick said simply.

Warrick shook his head. "But you did drugs too? You didn't just sell them?"

Nick closed his eyes again, but opened them after a few seconds. "I had to. I was going to school for 7 hours then working for Eric for 8. I needed a way to stay awake for an extended amount of time and to keep me going. Plus, it made me not think so much about what I was doing. I couldn't feel bad because I couldn't feel anything at all."

Warrick thought for a second before he was able to think of something to say. "Regardless of all that, you're still my best friend. Nothing can change that Nick." He knew that was all Nick needed to hear right now, and it never was a bad time to say it anyway.

-

Ryan Taylor sat in his office, carefully thinking over his plan of action. He had everything all worked out in his mind, he was just polishing off the final details. He had no doubt whatsoever that this was going to work, possibly even better than expected.

"Andrea," he called to his secretary. "I'm heading out now, I'll be in Vegas for a little while. Hold down the fort for me." Andrea smiled as he boss walked by and out the front door. Ryan drove toward the airport, where he would get onto the plane that would take him to his ultimate goal.

Revenge.

* * *

Sorry this chapter was so short and took a long time to update, but I was setting up for a longer chapter that should be posted soon. Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming. Any suggestions are also welcomed. 


	12. Surprise

Nick had gotten back from the eye doctor a little over two hours ago. He had to admit that he was impressed at how well his new glasses worked. He just had to get used to wearing glasses again because he had become accustomed to contacts. Right after Warrick had dropped him off and then went to do something for Grissom, Nick stretched out on the couch and turned the TV on. He was asleep in minutes. 

Nick groaned when he heard the doorbell ring. He knew it wasn't Warrick or Catherine, because they didn't even bother doing that anymore. It was basically a waste of time because knew they were welcomed to just come in whenever they wanted. Everyone else from work that would visit him for whatever reason should all be asleep or pulling overtime right now, so Nick had no idea who it could be. He forced himself off the couch and over to the door. It took him a couple extra seconds to open the door than it used to. Stupid hands.

"Hello Nick." The young man on the other side of the door said. He looked oddly familiar, but Nick didn't think he'd ever met him before. But he knew him from somewhere.

"Do I know you?" He asked politely.

The other man shook his head, his dirty blonde hair moving lightly on his head. "No, but I know you."

Nick was getting a little uneasy. "Okay...how can I help you?"

The other man extended his hand, and Nick took it. "I'm Ryan." Nick didn't need to introduce himself, because apparently Ryan already knew who he was. "I know you because you killed my father."

Realization struck Nick. "Eric." He instantly thought out loud. That's where he had seen Ryan before - kind of. Now that he thought about it, they did look a lot alike. But Eric didn't have any kids...did he?

Before he could react, Ryan ripped his hand from Nick's and punched him in the chest, sending the darker haired man stumbling back into the house. Ryan stepped inside as well, closing the door behind him. He pulled a gun from his inside jacket pocket and held it up, pointing it at Nick.

"What is it with Taylor's and coming over uninvited with guns all the time?" Nick asked when he caught his breath.

Ryan smiled, looking even more like Eric than he had before. "Funny. Sit." He said, motioning to the leather couch Nick had been asleep on minutes ago. Nick complied because he wasn't sure what Ryan was capable of or planning to do. This wasn't Eric, and he didn't know how far he could push this guy. He wasn't too eager to find out either.

"So you're Eric's kid?" Nick asked.

Ryan nodded. "Yeah. Sorry to surprise you like this, I know he told you and everyone else he didn't have any kids. But he does. And even though I wasn't close with my father, you killed him. Now we'll never be anything."

"How did you find out where I lived?"

"I'm a very resourceful guy. But that doesn't matter. I need you to do something for me, and you're gonna do it."

Nick shrugged slightly. "How can I help?" He asked somewhat sarcastically.

Ryan kept the gun pointed at Nick's head. "I need your help with some drugs. I know that was your specialty when you worked with my father."

"Actually, it was stealing the cars that moved the drugs."

"Whatever smart ass. You still know what you're doing. I know how myself, I just don't want to be there when the cops show up. But you will be."

Nick frowned. "I will?"

Ryan nodded. "You're going to take a couple kilos of cocaine to an abandoned warehouse in the desert. You'll be right in the middle of unloading when the cops arrive. Your fingerprints will be all over the coke, not to mention the gun used to kill the dealer back in his apartment."

"What if I don't feel like going to jail for something I didn't do?" Nick asked.

"It's simple really. I'm going to call the cops when I see you get to the warehouse. I won't leave until I see you in the back of the cruiser. If you try anything or if I think you're going to try anything, I will kill you."

Nick nodded slowly. "So you have front row seats to this?"

"Yeah. So I would highly suggest you to play along. Don't fuck with me Nick. This is fairly simple, don't make in complicated. If you tell your cop friends before, I'll kill you. If you don't do exactly what I tell you, I'll kill you. Okay?"

"I guess I have no choice." Nick said, defeated.

"Good boy. I'll be back here tomorrow night at 10. Don't worry, I'll set everything else up."

And with that, Ryan was gone, leaving Nick sitting alone in his living room. He waited 20 minutes before picking up his cell phone, then changed his mind. He couldn't be sure that Ryan didn't hook wires up in his house or to his phones, and he didn't want to chance it. So he grabbed his keys and headed out to his car, ignoring the warnings he'd been given not to drive because of his hands.

He was so busy working everything out in his head he hadn't realized he had gotten to LVPD until he had walked in to Brass' office while the police captain was on the phone. Brass held up a finger to Nick, signaling him to wait a second.

"Okay, file charges on him. My guys have been watching him, they can pick him up." Brass hung up the phone before looking up at Nick. "What's up Nick?" He asked.

Nick wasted no time trying to explain what had just happened. "Eric has a kid and he was just at my house and he's pissed at me and-"

Brass cut him off. "Woah woah...sit down. Take a deep breath and start over, slowly."

Nick took the offered seat and started again, calmly this time. "Remember Eric Taylor?"

Brass nodded. "How could I forget the bastard?"

"Well, he had a kid. Ryan. He's a little younger than I am I think. He was just at my house and told me that I had to-" Nick was cut off again.

"Are you sure it wasn't a dream? You're still on a lot of painkillers Nicky."

Nick didn't blame Brass for his skepticism. He knew how crazy it sounded, so he tried a different approach. "Do you trust me?" He asked.

Brass was taken back by the question. "What are you ta-" This time, it was Nick who cut Brass off.

"Do you trust me?" Nick asked again.

"Nick, you know you're like a son to me. Of course I trust you."

"Then you have to believe me. He was just at my house. He punched me in the chest." Nick said, trying to find evidence Brass has come accustomed to believing. To prove his point, Nick took his shirt off to reveal the dark bruise on his chest.

Brass stared at it for a second before speaking. "What the hell happened?"

Nick started at the beginning, telling Brass the whole story. He made sure he didn't leave anything out. When he finished, he sat back in his chair and waited for Brass to say something. He didn't have a chance before Warrick walked in to the office as well.

"Hey Brass, Gris wanted me to give you the...Nick, what the hell are you doing here? How'd you get here? Please tell me you didn't drive." It took Warrick a couple seconds before he realized Nick's shirt was on his lap instead of his body, revealing a dark bruise on his chest. Nick rambled off what had happened again before Warrick even had to ask. Warrick had taken the seat next to Nick and didn't say anything else, even after Nick had finished.

Brass said what he was going to say to Nick before Warrick had walked in. "He must have changed his name because when we ran a background check on Eric, nothing showed up about any family members. I don't know how to catch this guy."

"I do." Nick said.

Brass shook his head. "No. You're not going anywhere near him again."

"I have an idea. I do what he asks, except you make sure the cops never show up. I can take it from there. It's gonna work." Nick looked from Brass to Warrick, then back to Brass. "I think."


	13. Argumental Planning

"_No_ Nick." Warrick said firmly. He was still sitting next to Nick in Brass' office, except now they were joined by Grissom and Jeremy. He had his arms crossed against his chest and wasn't planning on giving in anytime soon. 

"But-" Nick tried, but was cut off by his best friend.

"No. I'm not letting you do that. It's suicide man. You can't see well, especially at night, and can barely use your hands. How do you think you're gonna fight him off if you have to?"

Nick sighed. "It's the only choice we have."

Warrick shook his head. "No it's not. Why don't we just have some cops wait at your house for Ryan to come back tonight and arrest him then? Why do we have to go through with some elaborate plan, putting your life on the line and hope it works?"

"If he even thinks cops are at my house, he won't show up and kill me later."

"I agree with Warrick more than you on this one Nicky." Grissom said.

"Me too." Jeremy chimed in. "How do you know that Ryan doesn't know you're here right now?"

"I don't." Nick said. "But he doesn't want to kill me. He wants me to go to jail and suffer for the rest of my life. He'll only kill me if he has to."

"How do you know that?" Warrick asked. "This isn't Eric."

"I know. It's his kid. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Besides, he's not a criminal. If he was, he would have worked for his dad instead of being ignored. If he wanted to kill me, I would be dead by now." Nick said, trying to reason with his friends and brother.

Brass was just as skeptical as Warrick and Grissom. "I like where your heads at in this, you're really considering a lot. But you just can't be certain of anything. What if something goes wrong?" He asked.

"Ryan's smart. He found out who I am and where I live. He knows better than to kill innocent people. No one's at risk but me." Nick said.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Warrick said as he unfolded his arms and held up his hands.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. Stay here, where no one can hurt you. We send a bunch of cops out and find this guy and lock him up. Problem solved."

"It's not that easy. We didn't know about him before, I didn't even know he existed until he showed up at my door. He's smart." Nick was trying his hardest to convince the four other men in the room to let him go through with his plan. He felt like he was making some progress.

"Okay..." Grissom said slowly, stopping Warrick from saying anything else so the two friends wouldn't get into a fight. "Let's go through this one more time. What exactly are you planning to do and how Nick?" He asked.

"Ryan said he would be at my house at ten tonight." Nick had just realized how long he had been in Brass' office when Ryan showing up tomorrow turned into _tonight_. "I'm gonna go out to the warehouse after he tells me where it is. He'll probably make me drive his car out there so you won't be able to follow it with GPS or anything. But I can text you where I am. That way, when Ryan calls it in, you'll already be close enough and get there sooner than he expects. He's not gonna take any chances, so he won't leave until I'm arrested. That's where Jeremy comes in. Get a bunch of cops around me and I'll sneak off and find where Ryan or his car is. He'll see Jeremy get put in the car so he won't expect to see me coming."

"Why don't I just go find him instead of you?" Jeremy asked, not wanting to put his little brother in any more dangerous situations. He still hadn't been able to go home, even after Nick had gotten out of the hospital. He needed to be sure he was gonna be okay.

Nick shook his head. "No. He's not after you, he's after me. So you're not gonna be put in danger, or anyone else. When I find him...I don't really know. There'll still be cops there to 'process' the drugs and whatever, so it's not like I'll be totally alone. I can let them know where he is." When all Nick got in repsonse were four empty stares, he smiled slightly. "Oh come on guys. Haven't you seen enough movies where they say, 'This is just crazy enough to work' ?"

Right now, Warrick wished Nick could be serious **all** the time. "This isn't a movie. This is real life. This is your life. It's not a game."

Nick sighed, but was still smiling. "I know. Thank God it isn't a game...if it was, I'd be losing by a lot by now."

* * *

After another two hours or arguing and then eventually planning how everything was going to happen, Nick was finally leaving Brass' office with Warrick, Jeremy and Grissom behind him. He was glad that he had finally convinced them to let him go through with his plan, and with not too much time to spare. It was almost seven, so Ryan would be back at his house by ten. Nick thought that this whole thing wasn't that big of a deal and was actually kind of childish. Eric's kid wanted revenge, so he devised a somewhat idiotic scheme to get it. Nick thought his plan was a lot better than Ryan's.

Everyone else wasn't as sure as Nick was. Jeremy hadn't agreed to his idea at all, he was just going along with it to be supportive of his little brother and try to be of as much help as possible. He thought it'd be better to stick Nick in a bullet proof bubble and keep him there until his safety was guranteed. Then he could be let out. Maybe.

Warrick had reluctantly agreed to let Nick go through with it, but only because he wanted everything to be over and done with as soon as possible. He didn't want his best friend to be put in danger again, but he certainly didn't want Nick to have to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life because Ryan go away or something. There was no easy way out.

Brass and Grissom were just as scared as Jeremy and Warrick, but were hiding it a lot better thanks to their years of experience with dangerous situations. Grissom was thankful that Brass was handling all the important stuff like making sure the right people were in the right places at the right time. There was no margin for error or second chances. If anything seemed like it might go wrong, everyone would be quickly brought to safety. Brass wasn't going to leave Nick alone anywhere for any longer than he absolutly had to. Grissom was worried sick about his CSI level three's health, and couldn't honestly say he trusted Jeremy. Neither Brass nor Grissom were overly concerned with catching Ryan at the moment.

All anyone cared about was Nick.

Before anyone could have any second thoughts or try to talk him out of it, Nick took his leave, wanting to get back to his house as soon as he could in case Ryan was watching or wondering where he was. The other three men tried to act like Nick was just going home after work and they would see him tomorrow. Brass disappeared back into his office to get everything set along with Grissom, leaving Jeremy to watch his younger brother head back to his house with Warrick. He sighed and told himself he would see him tonight, and then for many years after that.

If anything but that was the case, Jeremy wasn't sure what he would do. He couldn't even bare the thought of losing Nick.

* * *

Nick was glad that Warrick was concentrating more on the road than on him. He knew Warrick was worried about him, but it would be a lot easier for Nick to relax if his friend was calm as well. He almost had himself convinced that if the worst case scenario did actually happen, that it could turn out to be the best for everyone. If for whatever reason he ended up dying tonight, Nick thought everyone would be somewhat relieved because they wouldn't have to worry about him constantly. And to be honest, he was starting to get sick of his bad luck.

Warrick turned onto Nick's street, giving them only about two minutes until they go to Nick's house. The older man by only a year decided to take this time to break the silence that had filled the car for the entire ride.

"Promise you're going to be careful." He said, never taking his eyes off the road in front of him.

Nick nodded. "I promise. Nothing's gonna go wrong."

"You don't know that. What if something does? Do you have any idea what-" Warrick stopped himself and forced his mind to think of something other than his best friend's lifeless body lying in Doc Robbins morgue on a silver table in front of him. "Just be careful, okay?"

Nick looked across the car at Warrick and could see the worry in his eyes. He understood how hard this was, and was willing to do anything to ease Warrick's mind. "I promise I will be."

Warrick pulled into Nick's driveway and put the Denali in park before finally looking over at Nick. "You promise you will be?"

Nick smiled. "I _promise_." He said again.

"Now that's three times you've promised. It's like a sin to break it now." Warrick said, smiling slightly himself. "I'll see ya later bro."

Nick leaned in and pulled Warrick into a brief hug before openening the door and stepping out. "Count on it." He said with another smile before closing the door and heading into his house. Warrick waited until Nick was completely inside and he had taken a good look around to make sure no one else was there before finally pulling out of the driveway and heading back to LVPD to wait.

The worst part was going to be sitting there. Waiting.


	14. Ultimatum

Once he was alone in his house again, Nick wasn't sure what to do. He tried watching TV, but couldn't concentrate on anything. He was trying to stay calm and relaxed despite playing worst case scenarios over in his head. He thought more about how to keep his brother and everyone else out of danger than he thought about keeping himself safe. That wasn't his concern right now. Nick had never been a selfish person. He wasn't about to start right now. 

He was so lost in thought that he lost track of time. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the loud knock at the door. He knew who it was, so remained on the couch and turned the TV off instead of getting up to answer the door.

"It's open." He called. His voice was as steady as ever.

Ryan Taylor entered, closing the door loudly behind him. He pulled a gun from the waistband of his jeans and held it down by his side. "Hello Nick."

Nick didn't return the greeting. "You don't need that." He said instead.

Ryan shrugged. "All the same, I don't wanna take any chances. How was your day at home?"

"Fine. Kinda boring, so I'm glad to get outta here." Nick answered.

"Good." Ryan raised the gun. "Drive out to the warehouse where the Stanson case was last year."

Nick frowned in confusion. "How did you fi-"

Ryan cut him off. "Don't worry about it. Nothing's there anymore, it's completely deserted. A perfect place for drug storage. It's easy enough to find, so it won't take the cops too long." Ryan motioned for Nick to stand up, and he complied. "Don't try anything. You were a good boy today, don't mess it up. You're going to pay for what you did to my father."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Be my guest." The younger man reponded.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Nick asked.

Ryan stared at him for a minute. "Because I don't wanna let you off easy." Ryan finally answered.

Nick nodded. "That makes sense. No one seems to just want to get it over with." Nick sighed. "Alright, let's do this."

* * *

It took Nick ten minutes longer to get to the warehouse than he had remembered. He texted Brass where he was as soon as he was sure of the exact location and pocketed his cell phone before the warehouse came into view to be sure that Ryan wouldn't see him with it. He drove the dark blue pickup truck around to the back of the warehouse like he had been instructed to do. He came to a stop in front of the already opened garage door with the light on inside, revealing the vast amount of space on the other side of the walls.

Nick hopped out of the truck and grabbed the first silver brick of cocaine and brought it into the warehouse, putting it up against the right hand side wall like he had been told. He quickly looked around him on the inside of the warehouse and was barely able to make out the door at the other end next to a ladder that must lead up to the roof. Nick hadn't thought about wearing his glasses out here until he had tried to look around him. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were shaking at his sides.

For the first time since he had concocted his plan, Nick began to doubt his idea.

But it was too late to rethink that now. So he dragged himself back outside and kept on unloading the drugs that weren't his from a dealer that he didn't kill. Nick was extremely grateful for the fact that Brass and Grissom trusted him as much as they did. They could have just shrugged Nick's story about Ryan off as him being paranoid and left him to deal with this on his own. But they didn't. They believed his crazy story and immediatly agreed to help in anyway they could. Warrick and Jeremy weren't really surprises. Nick knew that they would do anything to help him whenever they could.

It had been just under ten minutes since Nick had arrived before he could hear the sirens. The little feeling he had in his hands were causing him more pain than they were helping him move the drugs. He took a deep breath and continued, not wanting to make Ryan suspicious or make any false moves that would cause the other man to shoot him or whatever he was planning if necessary.

Nick's timing couldn't have been any better. Once the cop cars came into view, he began to run just as they came to a stop, to make it look like he was guilty. Needless to say, he didn't go far. It was mere seconds before Brass, Detective Vartann and two other cops had surrounded him and forced him to the ground. He landed on his stomach and let out a grunt as the air was forced from his lungs.

"Sorry kid." Brass muttered under his breath. He said it quietly, but Nick could still hear him despite the yelling of the other cops and sirens of their cars. "You better be careful Nick." Brass said as they hauled Nick to his feet and starting pulling him towards the waiting cruiser.

From where Ryan was looking, he could just barely make out the tall, dark haired figure being pushed into the backseat before the door was slammed shut. He smiled contently at his own good work. He thought it would have made his father proud.

He looked on for a couple more minutes before he turned to leave the roof. If he had been closer to the edge, he would have fallen off at the shocking sight of Nick Stokes now standing in front of him on the almost pitch black roof.

"What the fuck?" He thought out loud.

"I know." Nick said. "Climbing that ladder was next to impossible, especially with these hands." He held up his hands and showed his scarred palms. "But it was worth it to see that look on your face."

Ryan looked over his shoulder, then back at Nick. "But you...just got arrested."

"That's physically impossible. That's not your only mistake either. You overlooked the fact that I don't like threats, or being framed for something I didn't do." Nick replied.

Ryan pulled his gun out and pointed it right between Nick's dark brown eyes. "I told you not to fuck with me. Get back down there and into that car."

"Or what?" Nick asked. "You'll kill me? Quite frankly, I don't buy that. So prove me wrong."

Ryan's finger froze on the trigger. "I'll kill Warrick and Jeremy. Right now. I know they have to be down there...they must have helped you with this." Ryan started walking forwards, forcing Nick backwards.

"There's another mistake." Nick said, stopping just before walking into the door he had just come through. "Don't threaten my best friend, or my brother."

Nick's hand shot up and grasped Ryan's wrist, jerking it down and away from his face. He couldn't completely close his fingers around the gun or Ryan's wrist, so Nick had to use his other hand to help keep control of the weapon. Ryan finally regained control of his gun, and upon doing so punched Nick in the face. Nick's head snapped back, colliding with the metal door behind him. The intense blow caused Nick to slowly slide down the door until he was sitting on the ground with his knees pulled up almost to his chest. He felt like someone was trying to hammer a nail into the back of his head as hard as they could. That didn't help his already messed up eyes focus on the dark figure standing over him.

Ryan took three giant steps back so that his heels were inches away from the edge of the roof. He shook his head, even though he knew that Nick couldn't see him.

"Looks like you're the one who keeps making mistakes." He said with an evil laugh. He thought for a second before tossing the gun at Nick's feet, surprising the Texan.

"Go ahead." Ryan said. "Pick it up. I'm giving you an ultimatum. Right now, you're stunned due to the blow you just took to your head. So you have a choice. There's only one bullet in that gun. You can use it to kill yourself, ending your pathetic life...or take a shot at me, even though you'll certainly miss."

Nick closed his eyes when he felt his hand slide over the cool metal. He listened to Ryan's voice closely, picking up on the fact that it was coming from different places. Ryan was walking back and forth in front of him, making himself an even harder target. Nick grasped the gun as best as he could and raised it up high enough so that his arm was resting on his knee, the gun pointing off to the left and into the night.

"When you do miss me, I'll make you wish you got into the back of that cruiser and just gone to jail. What would have happened to you there is so much better than what I'm going to put you through."

Nick gritted his teeth as his headache worsened. He focused all of his attention on Ryan's voice, carefully following the image he had drawn up in his mind. Without responding or moving anything but his right arm, Nick lifted the gun and fired straight ahead. The bullet shot out of the gun and flew through the night air before ripping through Ryan's chest. The shocked man stood as still as a statue for a moment before slowly falling backwards and off the roof. The next thing Nick heard was the crash as Ryan Taylor's body landed on one of the cop cars thirty feet below.

Keeping his eyes closed, Nick brought the gun under his chin, pressing the cold barrel against his warm skin. He pulled the trigger again, but was met with that empty clicking sound.

"Figures." He mumbled before dropping the gun to the ground between his feet.

Nick hadn't heard Jeremy climb up the access ladder on the side of the warehouse and pull himself up onto the roof. If Nick had opened his eyes, he would have seen Jeremy standing off to his right.

He wouldn't have tried to kill himself if he had known that his older brother had been watching.


	15. Making Amends

Jeremy watched as Nick slowly got to his feet and waited until his little brother had turned to open the door to go back down before he made his presence known. 

"Are you fucking kidding me Nick?" He asked angirly. He started walking over to the younger man, who had almost jumped out of his skin from the unexpected voice coming from the dark.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" Nick asked when Jeremy came into view.

But his brother didn't answer him.Instead, Jeremy decided to keep pushing Nick back repeatedly until he was so close to the edge of the roof that a pencil wouldn't even fit in the space between the heel of Nick's shoes and where the roof ended.

"I came up here to see if you were okay. But I guess you're not, seeing as how you just tried to kill yourself."

Nick stared at Jeremy blankly. "You...you saw that?" His voice was quiet and soft.

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, I did. Why did you try to do that?"

"I didn't know you were there." Nick said, shaking his head. "Besides, Ryan told me there was only one bullet left."

"So? What if there wasn't?" Jeremy kept pounding Nick with questions.

"I used it on him. I knew there was only one left." Nick answered.

"Then why did you still try?" Jeremy yelled. Nick didn't blink. He didn't move at all. Jeremy looked down at the ground, then back up at his brother. "I was right there. Right there. What if there wasn't only one left? What if Ryan had lied?" Jeremy's voice fell to a whisper. "I was right there Nick."

"I didn't know...if I did I wouldn't have.." Nick tried to explain, but Jeremy wasn't listening.

"You wouldn't have cared because you would have taken the easy way out. You would have just given up completely." Jeremy reached out and grabbed Nick's arms in between his elbows and shoulders. "Do you really want to die that much?" He asked as he started shaking Nick, threatening to send him falling off the roof.

Nick nodded slowly. "I'm sick of everything. I want all the pain to just stop. I want everything to just stop." Jeremy stopped shaking him, but didn't let go of his arms.

"Remember when you were in the hospital after the kidnapping and I didn't come see you and mom and dad got mad at me?" Jeremy asked, catching Nick off gaurd. The younger Stokes nodded. "I said I had to work, but I lied. I was too scared. I was afraid that I'd go to see you, but you wouldn't be there. I thought it was a trick to get me to go to your funeral or something. When I found out, I was so scared that I didn't have a little brother anymore. You almost _died,_ Nicky."

Nick swallowed the lump in his throat. "But I didn't."

Jeremy shook his head. "No, you didn't. But you still keep trying to change that. I know that I'm the worst big brother on the face of the Earth and that I've never been there to protect you, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. Nothing will change that. Whether or not you're in immense pain or scared out of your mind...that won't change the fact that you're my little brother. You'll always have that."

A few tears had trickled down from Jeremy's eyes, but he didn't pay any attention to them. He pulled Nick away from the edge of the roof before finally letting go of his arms. Jeremy let his own arms fall to his sides before he slowly turned and climbed down from the roof, back to the flashing lights of the cops still waiting below.

* * *

It took Nick longer to get down from the roof than it had to get up. He had to wait a couple minutes after Jeremy had left until the sick feeling he had in his stomach went away. His hands were shaking, but he couldn't feel them at all. A couple times he thought he was going to throw up, and he wished he would so the pain in his stomach would go away. When it finally did, he made his way down from the roof. 

Brass and Warrick came up to him immediatly after he set both of his feet on the ground. They both looked worried and relieved at the same time. Nick wasn't looking at them. He was looking behind them to see where Jeremy had went. He was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you okay?" Warrick asked to get Nick's attention.

The Texan nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I see things didn't go exactly according to plan." Brass said, motioning to Ryan's dead body.

Nick sighed. "Unfortunately, no they didn't. He...I had to."

"I know." Brass said softly. "Why don't you two get outta here? Go home and get some rest."

Warrick nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good idea."

He slowly started walking towards his car, and Nick followed. They climbed into the Denali and began to make their way back to Vegas. Warrick could tell something was wrong with Nick, but didn't ask. He didn't have to wait too long for an explanation.

"Ryan gave me his gun and said I could either shoot myself or try to shoot him. He told me there was only one bullet left. Obviously I shot him, but I got lucky. Then I...Jeremy came up...I didn't know he was there..."

Warrick looked over at Nick with concern in his eyes. "What happened?"

Nick closed his eyes and sighed. "I tried to...I thought maybe there was two bullets..."

He didn't need to explain anymore. Warrick understood completely, although he wished he wasn't hearing what he was. Warrick felt his stomach churn and his grip tightened on the wheel. He forced himself to stay calm and not get angry at Nick. That wouldn't do anyone any good.

"Why?" He asked.

"I just want everything to stop. I want it all to go away." Nick said quietly. His eyes were still closed and his head was now resting against the cool window.

"Killing yourself isn't the only way to accomplish that Nicky." Warrick said coldly.

Nick opened his eyes and looked over at his best friend. He didn't say anything. He just stared at Warrick with his sad, dark brown eyes and waited for Warrick to say something else because he himself didn't know what he should say.

"I know you have that weird idea in your head that if you were gone everyone would be better off...but you couldn't be more wrong about that. Why do you think that we all tried to hard to find you when you were kidnapped? Why do you think we didn't give up?"

Nick opened his mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. He wanted to apologize and that he knew he was being stupid, but he simply couldn't form any words.

"I know it hurts and things have only gotten worse for you and I wish there was something I could do to change that. I wish I could change everything that's ever happened to you...but I can't. I'm still not gonna give up on you. Nobody will as long as you don't give up on us."

Nick finally managed to speak. "I'm not going to. I promise I won't. I'm really trying not to...it's just hard." Warrick glanced over at him, then back at the road. "What should I do?" Nick asked.

"For starters, talk to your brother. Seeing you almost do that isn't the easiest thing to forget."

Nick pulled his eyes away from Warrick and mentally hit himself. He remembered how shaken up Warrick had been for months after he had seen Nick about to end his life. It was easy to understand that being hard to forget. Nick knew he had to talk to Jeremy and try to fix things. He didn't want his older brother to hate him for something he wasn't sure he ever really wanted to do anymore.

* * *

Jeremy didn't say anything when he opened the door and saw Nick standing on the other side. He just opened it wider and walked back into his hotel room. Nick followed, closing the door behind him. Jeremy sat at the table in the corner. Nick took the seat across from him and took a deep breath before beginning.

"I'm sorry I did that. Or tried to do that. Whatever...anyway, I know what I think is stupid and painful for everyone else. I didn't want to hurt anyone else but myself."

"That's impossible." Jeremy said. "Did you think it didn't hurt when I saw you hung upside and almost drowned in a pool? Or when Eric threw you through a window?"

Nick hung his head. "I know it did...I didn't mean to be selfish. I know I've been a pain. I promise that I'm gonna be fine. Everything's okay now. I'm sorry for before...but it's over with."

"What if...God forbid...something else happens? Are you just gonna end it?"

"No." Nick shook his head. "I'm not. I couldn't. I'd miss everyone too much. Even you."

Jeremy smiled at his little brother's comment. "You better not be lying to me Nicky. "

"I'm not."

"Okay." Jeremy said, nodding. "Okay, I believe you. Just remember that no matter what, I'm always gonna be your brother which entitles me to always be here for you. Don't forget that."

Nick smiled. "I couldn't even if I tried."

* * *

Next and last chapter should hopefully be up soon. I'm not sure how I want to end it yet. Suggestions and ideas are welcomed. thanks for the reviews. 


	16. Leave Out All the Rest

Nick and Jeremy were trying very hard to keep the smiles off their faces, but weren't really succeeding. They were sitting in Nick's living room on the couch. Brass, Grissom and Warrick were standing over by the TV, and everyone was watching Mr. and Mrs. Stokes pace back and forth in front of their sons. 

"I still don't understand why this Eric guy had a grudge against you Jeremy." Bill Stokes said, stopping to face his oldest son.

Jeremy shrugged. "I don't know why either. I guess he just didn't like me because I wouldn't work for him or was jealous that you're a judge...who the hell knows. That doesn't matter though because we're both okay."

Brass and Grissom looked at each other. They had left out a lot of details as to what had happened because they didn't want to upset Jeremy and Nick's parents too much. They had already dealt with so much when Nick had been kidnapped. They didn't tell them that both of their sons had worked for Eric, or the extent of what had happened at Eric's house not too long ago. They also didn't mention the fact that Nick had killed two people, even though he did it to save himself and his friends. All they said was the bare details of what had happened, and that seemed like it was taking it's toll enough.

"_Now_ you're okay...but what about next time?" Jill Stokes asked.

"There's not gonna be a next time mom. Don't worry, everything's fine. We uh...handled it perfectly and waited this long to tell you because we knew you'd freak out." Nick said.

Jill threw her hands up in the air. "Well of course I would! My sons' lives were in danger yet again, but they think everything is perfectly okay. You two better be more careful from now on, or I'll have to keep you separate."

"We're not little kids anymore. You can't ground us." Jeremy protested. The look the two men received from their mother undoubtedly scared both of them. Even Brass, Grissom and Warrick were imtimidated.

"She'll still try." Nick said to Jeremy under his breath.

"Pancho, " Bill said, referring to Nick by his nickname, "Why didn't you just tell Eric where you hid whatever it is he wanted? Or turn him into the police? Wouldn't that have been much simpler and smarter?"

Nick shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. But I didn't have time and..." He trailed off because he knew he wouldn't get anywhere. "Look, I know you guys are upset because we got into trouble again...but it's over with now and we're both okay. We won't do it again and promise to stay outta trouble." Nick elbowed his brother. "Right Jere?"

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, we promise. I'll keep Nicky out of trouble." Nick glared at Jeremy, who just smiled at him.

Jill still seemed uneasy. "Why can't you two just be normal adults and not get into trouble in every way possible? Are you trying to break my heart?"

Before Jeremy could reply with a sarcastic remark, Nick said, "Of course not. It's just in our nature I guess. But we won't do it anymore. From now on, we'll be the most boring sons ever."

Jill sighed. "That's all I ask." She turned to Grissom, Brass and Warrick. "Please keep an eye on both of them. If they do anything stupid, feel free to take necessary action. I trust you more than I trust those two."

Nick and Jeremy finally gave in to the smiles that had been tugging at their lips. They looked at each other and sighed sarcastically, earning themselves a hit on their arms from their mother. They flinched back, but not in time. Bill was unable to surpress a laugh, and was in turn also hit on the arm.

"Girls are so much easier than boys." Jill said exasperated.

All of the men in the room looked around at each other for a minute. Then they all shrugged and nodded in agreement.

* * *

A few hours had passed, leaving Jeremy and Nick sitting in Nick's living room by themselves. Their parents had returned home after a short visit. Warrick, Brass and Grissom had left shortly after because they all had work that needed to be done. So that left the two brothers sitting on the couch watching TV in silence. Neither one of them really wanted to speak because they weren't sure of what they were supposed to say. Nick still thought that Jeremy was mad at him for the incident on the roof. Jeremy still felt like he had let Nick down for his entire life and didn't know how to change that. But he figured he had to start somewhere.

"Mom really would have had a heart attack if she knew everything that had happened." Jeremy said.

Nick nodded. "Yeah...that wouldn't have been good at all. She would have been really pissed." He looked over at Jeremy. "At me, not you."

"Would you blame her?" Jeremy asked.

Nick shook his head. "No. I know it's hard to uderstand...but I swear I'm not trying to hurt anyone. I just can't help but think it would be for the best if I was gone."

Jeremy turned so he was directly facing Nick. "Do you remember when you were in seventh grade and it was your first day after the junior high had been built again so it was connected to the high school?"

Nick frowned in confusion. "Yeah, what's your point?"

"I remember getting into a fight with Jason Rahyre. I got suspended on the first day of school and mom grounded me for like a month. I didn't tell her the real reason I got into a fight with him."

"It was because of me." Nick thought out loud.

Jeremy nodded. "He was being a jackass to you and thought it was funny to beat you up because you were smaller and weaker than he was. He didn't listen when I told him to back off, so I beat the hell out of him."

Nick didn't say anything back. He just stared at Jeremy and waited for him to go on. "You didn't know that was the reason I got into a fight with him either. But I did because your my little brother and that's what I'm supposed to do. I know I haven't done a very good job as of late, but I'm here to protect you. If you weren't here, who would be my little brother?"

Nick shook his head slowly. "It's not your fault that I want to-"

Jeremy cut him off. "Don't say that. **Don't**." He said firmly. "I know you've been through so much, and I swear I would kill anyone who has ever hurt you if I could. But I can't do that because I'd get arrested and then wouldn't be there for you at all anymore." Nick laughed lightly. Jeremy continued. "I understand that I'm not the ideal choice for a brother, but that doesn't mean that you get to quit on me. Don't give up on me now Nicky."

Nick nodded. "I won't. I'm sorry I keep causing you and every one else so much pain...I don't mean to. All I ever wanted to do was hurt myself."

"You getting hurt causes me more pain than anything ever could."

Nick knew Jeremy was telling the truth. He always believed everything his older brother told him. It was a habit Nick had picked up growing up, and he didn't quite know if it was a good or bad habit. Nick was like any other little brother who wanted their older brother to like them and be proud of them at all times. Nick hated causing Jeremy pain and wanted to prevent that from every happening again. It never occured to him that to do that and end his own life would hurt more than anything else Nick could have put Jeremy through.

Nick didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything at all. He just pulled Jeremy into a brief hug before sitting back and smiling. Jeremy felt that he had made his point, so he too sat back and turned his attention back to the baseball game on TV. Nick began to watch again as well, but wasn't thinking about the game. He was thinking about how lucky he was to have the friends and family that he did. He didn't want to think about where he would be without them. So he didn't think about it. Instead, he fell into the usual banter with Jeremy while they watched sports and argued back and forth over anything they could think of.

Both brothers knew that despite what happened or how bad things seemed, they'd always be there no matter what.

THE END

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this story. Thanks to everyone who read and a special thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it. 


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